Faithfully
by HeatherJS
Summary: Sometimes, all you need is that warm embrace and for the Warrior Princess, it could prove to be her salvation... or her damnation.
1. Not Made of Stone

**Disclaimer: Don't own them, if I did then things would have gone differently for sure.**

 **This is set a little after The Price episode with my own little twist.**

 **I would like to give out a big thank you to all who have showed their support throughout my crazy stories. Your constant support is greatly appreciated and just makes me all warm and fuzzy on the inside at seeing your reactions to it, the guest ones and the regular reviewers! :)))))))))**

 **So thank you from the bottom of my heart Mareritt, Alexandra, Darkchakram, XWPmnk and a very special thank you to Xentrya for putting up with all of my crap! :))))))) One day those demons might be tamed but for now they are running free! :))))**

Chapter 1

She could still smell it even though she was miles away, the burning funeral pyres were still there and the scent seemed to have been seared into her nostrils, there was just no escaping it. Xena pushed Argo harder, trying desperately to get away from it but she couldn't and that only reminded her of all the other things she had done. The screams of the dying men, the ones who had foolishly placed their faith in her while all she did was end up getting them killed. She was no leader, not when all that she was able to do was bring death wherever she went- though she only did what it took for her and her troops to survive. How many people died in the process didn't really matter to her as long as it ensured her victory. Lands, homes, and families destroyed all because of her sick and twisted vision that was the only way to ease that pain that she felt within herself.

But that last battle, it brought forth to light that maybe that old Xena wasn't as dead as she thought she was. The hunger was still there, that was something that she still fought with every day to try and keep at bay and that carnage had only fueled it until it had grown wildly out of control. Attempting to keep the memories away, the Warrior Princess tried to keep Argo moving, but as the night grew, the horse only wanted to rest. She had been pushing the mare hard for the past two days, barely stopping to give either one of them a rest.

Surging her own, Xena steered her further into the forest, searching for something but what exactly it was, she herself couldn't tell for sure. Several more hours had passed with Argo giving out her protest of continuing on this journey more than a few times until they had gone so deep into the woods that Xena was absolutely certain no one would ever find them. She finally stopped, only to let her horse rest for a while and planning to be on the road again very soon. She soon set up camp, only the basics- not even bothering to get herself something to eat. How could she, when her mind was plagued with the guilt of all that she had done? Her stomach was in knots and trying to force anything down would only end with it coming right back up.

So instead, she just sat in front of her campfire, staring blankly into it. Everything just kept flowing through her mind, the way she took over that battlement, the eagerness with which she ruthlessly planned on taking out the Horde with that small army, knowing that it wasn't going to be easy and that most likely a lot of unnecessary blood shed was going to be unavoidable. Apart of that, she had also hurt a friendship in the process.

" _What is going on with you?" Gabrielle asked, completely shocked by the actions her friend was now taking._

" _I'm trying to save our skins. Those things outside will kill us all."_

" _This is insane! You are letting these men die! You axed that man in the back!" she shouted, trying to get the Warrior Princess to see that the path she was heading down was wrong._

" _He was inside our battlements. He saw our defenses! I couldn't risk it."_

" _I can't believe this, Xena. You're scaring me."_

 _This was obviously a_ _side of the Warrior Princess that the Bard had never seen before and it surprised her how easily the darkness had consumed her friend._

" _This is war!" she bit out aggressively, "What did you expect… glamor?! There are no good choices… only lesser degrees of evil."_

" _There is_ _always a_ _choice… stop_ _ **fighting**_ _!"_

" _You don't understand, Gabrielle_ _…they aren't like us. There is nothing about them that we can or should understand." Xena sneered out, beginning to become irritated with the whole conversation, why couldn't she just see that there was no other way for this to end?_

" _But, have you even tried?" she tried to reason with her, attempting to get through to Xena somehow._

" _I know them… there's nothing!"_

The conversation echoed in her head ever since the battle was over, and that look on Gabrielle's face… a look that she had seen many times before throughout her past. The complete disgust that was in her friend's eyes haunted her still and was something that she wished she would never see in them again. The Warrior Princess couldn't believe how easy it was for her to slip back into her old ways. But it was just so addictive and hearing those men chanting her name… it sent shivers down her spine still and she relished in it. Her eyes drifted shut for a moment while the sweet chant of their voices resonated inside her head once again.

" _Xena, Xena, Xena, Xena…"_

A satisfied grin soon began to form on her face as images started to slowly accompany the sounds. Her leading an army again, the men shouting her name out in battle, the rush, the thrill, the danger, the overwhelming exhilarating feeling of the fight and the pure power of it all….Truth be told, she had it all at her fingertips. She trembled slightly from the sensation, her heart beating maddeningly fast against her chest from it. She felt so free, undeterred from the scrutiny of it all and she let the feeling wash over her like a lovers caress. It had been so long since she had felt like that- actually not as long as she was willing to admit to herself -and that lingering presence that came around that made her sense all of those things at once, she had constantly denied it. But now that she was confined in the sanctuary of her own little campground, where no prying or disapproving eyes could judge her, she let the feeling shower over her again.

She had missed it but yet there was still something absent from it, a certain divine presence that she was viciously suppressing in her mind of what it was that had made everything fall into perspective. The Warrior Princess immediately tried to push the thought from her mind and by her doing so another image soon formed in her head. One that was not as appealing and a pair of sickened eyes flashed in her mind, the look of utter repulsion for the actions that she had taken to ensure their survival littered what she thought was her friend's face. The same friend who at one time said that there was nothing that she could ever do that would make her think any different of her. But clearly that statement was nothing but a lie, although she couldn't entirely blame her, Gabrielle just didn't understand, no one did and that's why she had left her in Athens, she needed a chance to clear her head and silence was her most welcomed friend… the things she had to do to survive, the bloodshed, the destruction… it all flowed freely at once through her mind.

She was never going to be able to escape her past- she knew that very well now- and no matter what she did, how straight the arrow she walked and all the good deeds, it was never going to make up for all of the bad things she had done. She was a monster, a ticking time bomb that was just waiting to explode and those who just happened to be in her way when it occurred… the thought made her shudder and but a few seconds later, she felt moisture on her cheeks. She reached up and touched her face and she felt the tears against her skin- she didn't even realize that she had started crying. Once they started there was no stopping them though and they flowed freely down her cheeks. She didn't deserve to live, not given all the things she had done and that were weighing heavily on her mind at this point- not to mention all the things that she was still capable of doing…The idea itself frightened her beyond words. It alarmed her greatly at how easy it was for her to fall right back into that ruthless warlord that she had been and her sobs started racking her body more violently.

All that time, standing just a few feet away from her were a pair of inquiring brown eyes. It surprised him a little that Xena had yet to take notice of his presence- usually, by this point she would have already run him off but what shocked him even more was seeing his Princess bursting abruptly into tears. The War God was completely panicked by her sudden eruption of emotions, especially because he wasn't entirely convinced that she didn't know that he was there- she always knew it- and each sob that fell from her lips and drifted up to his ears made his chest constrict savagely.

Now normally, he would have went straight into his usual speech of how she shouldn't let her emotions control her actions and that she should have lashed out at the ones wronged her, but this time, he could see clearly just how much the events of the last few days had really taken their toll on her. He forgot sometimes that she wasn't made of stone and that this world can be a cruel and unforgiving one and it could swallow you up within a heartbeat and Ares knew all too well her trials and tribulations. His sweet, precious Princess… he had never understood why she allowed those pathetic mortals thoughts affect her the way she did. He could feel her despair and it angered him to think that those worthless opinions had upset his Warrior Princess that much, throwing her in the state that she was now in.

They should be grateful, especially that irritating blonde, if it hadn't been for his precious Xena, they would have all been killed by the Horde. Yes, he had been watching the battle the whole time and as always, he was extremely proud of her and the way that she took charge, taking all the necessary steps to defend that hopeless battlement that was just one move away from collapsing under the threat that lingered outside. While all of them had been too brainless to set up the essential defenses that needed to be taken to fend off the danger- not that he was too surprised at their lack of war tactics, they were his sister's troops after all- Xena had flawlessly executed everything. He wanted to kill every last person that had something to do with his Princess' current desolation, starting with that ungrateful bitch of a blonde who should have been kissing the ground she walked on with how many times Xena had saved her pathetic life. But first, he had something that was far more important to take care of and that was in desperate need of his attention.

With his perception on what it was that he had to do, Ares began to make his way over to his falling apart Princess and sat down beside her on the log, already expecting her to rebuff him. Ever since she started on this whole redemption path, she acted like what they had shared before meant nothing to her. He immediately noticed how she had stiffened a little with his close proximity but she did not shift away from him and her crying started to die down a little. He took that as an extremely good sign that maybe she was not going to fight him for once. The War God could feel her calling out to him, silently longing for his essence and the soft sniffles that still escaped from her mouth, even though she was trying her hardest to keep herself together and not cry in front of him, could pierce his impenetrable heart like nothing else in this world could. His Princess was the only person who could affect him so deeply and when she was hurt, his protectiveness towards her was immeasurable and he was like a rabid dog when it came to ensuring that she was sheltered when she was broken.

"Sweetheart…" he began on the most caring tone, bringing his hand up and softly brushing back her hair before tenderly running his fingers down her cheek, "… sshh, don't cry darling… don't cry…" he whispered softly into her ear, gently taking a hold of her chin and turning her face towards his own so he could finally look into her gorgeous sapphire eyes that she had been stubbornly keeping from him all this time.

Despite that her every instinct told her that she should push him away, that he was the enemy and he should not be here with her – especially now that she was in this weakened state, she couldn't help it. And yes, it was unthinkable to turn to him- she couldn't do that, not any more- but his eyes, they quickly snuffed out every thought of distancing herself from him the moment hers had connected with his warm auburn ones. There was no judgment in them, not a single ounce of repugnance, for he had seen her at her worst and regardless of all that she had done, even to him, those brown orbs of his still looked at her as if she was still the most precious thing in the world to him. His eyes shined brightly with complete understanding. She hated that he knew her, perhaps even better then she knew herself really and when he looked at her like that, no hate, just acceptance, it only chipped away her resolve even more and brought forth the fact that she had been denying her feelings for him for years since she left him. She still needed him but she was vainly trying to fight against it at that moment.

When he moved his hand to her face again, she leaned slightly out of his reach, not wanting him to touch her but yet at the same time desperately wanting to feel his tender caress like she had felt so many times in the past. Her eyes drifted shut for a moment when his fingers made contact with her skin, it was so soothing and she leaned into it more to try and keep it from ending. But the protective kiss that he placed against her forehead was her undoing, and though she had effectively kept herself together all of that time, succeeding in holding back those tears, feeling that warm touch was too much for her.

Her eyes slowly opened again from the feeling and for a moment she held his compassionate auburn ones. The tears welled up in her eyes again and before she knew it or before she even thought to try and stop herself, Xena suddenly launched herself into his arms and was now sobbing into his chest like a frightened little girl. Automatically, she was instantly encased in his arms, being crushed to his chest as if he were trying to make her a part of him while his arms snaked around her now shaking form to hold her firmly against himself.

Feeling the War God surround her like that had made her own arms encircle around him and she was now holding on to him as if he were the only thing that was keeping her from falling completely into her despair. In return, his grip only became tighter, softly rocking her a little to try and calm her down, whispering little endearments into her ear and gently showering the side of her head with urgent, loving kisses but still, despite all of his efforts, those actions only seemed to have the opposite effect of the one he wanted and only made her cry harder against him, soaking his chest with her tears.

"Ssshhh, Princess…" her sobs were doing quite the number on him and his own agony at seeing her like that was unbearable, "…. Let me take you away from here…" he whispered softly against her ear while continuing with his crucial efforts to calm her down while he kept on placing loving kisses against every spot that his lips had the ability to touch.

In response, Xena only seemed to cry louder, her grip around him tightening so much that the War God couldn't have left her embrace even if he had wanted to. A few seconds later though, Ares felt his fragile Princess faintly nod her head in agreement against his chest before she once again buried her face into the crook of his neck, as if she wanted to just hide in the shelter of his embrace forever. With the most loving of movements, Ares gently shifted Xena so she was now sitting in his lap and he wrapped his arms around her tightly, eliminating even the smallest amount of space between them- even though they couldn't get any closer- and as he placed yet another affectionate kiss against what he held most dear in his life, a blue light started to softly form all around them and their grips around one another tightened while they left her secluded campground.


	2. Self Regarding Desires

Chapter 2

They soon rematerialized on his throne at his quarters on Mount Olympus and his Princess' soft whimpers started to die down a little, finally easing the strain that was encroaching on his heart at seeing her like that and her body began to relax more and more into his hold. Xena curled herself more into his warm embrace, staring blankly at his chest, watching as it lightly raised and fell with his every breath. All the tension within her started to gradually leave her body and with it, all of the vicious thoughts that had been cruelly invading her mind and a sense of ease came over her.

She inhaled a slow, deep breath against Ares' neck and softly exhaled it. His scent washed over her, filling her with that certain something that she had been missing all those past few years. His strong, but yet at the same time gentle hold made her feel like nothing had ever changed between them and it made her think back to how they had spent countless nights wrapped around each other, just holding one another close and enjoying their time together. Nothing else mattered at that moment, only what was being silently conveyed between the two estranged lovers. The War Gods gentle caresses were a welcomed sensation to Xena and her sapphire eyes drifted shut slightly from the unique feeling his touch always provided her.

Gods, this felt so right to her and she snuggled more into him, wanting to just stay within his embrace for the rest of her life. But like always, her need to deprive herself of the one thing that she really wanted started to work its way into her mind. No, this wasn't right, it was completely wrong and somehow the War God had managed to take advantage of her once again while she wasn't thinking straight. He was the enemy and she should not have allowed him to sneak his deceitful way back in her heart. She should have sent him packing the moment he showed up at her camp. This was not how it was supposed to go, they should have been fighting, cursing each other's name and they were not acting the part like they were supposed to be doing. But what were they doing instead was that they were not playing by the rules and the War God was protectively holding her in his arms while she drenched his chest with her tears.

The Warrior Princess started to panic. They had a routine and this was not how it was supposed to go. No…usually he only showed up to annoy her and usually, she would hit him with a cunning remark about his lame attempts to get her to come back to him and then he left- angry and frustrated. That was what should have happened, not this, and what was **this** anyway? What was he hoping to get from her in return by doing this?

In the meantime, the War God could feel the tension that was starting to seep back into her body. She was becoming anxious and his hold tightened a little more around her, trying to calm her down once again and he began to softly run his fingers through her raven tresses.

For a moment, it almost seemed as if his soothing caresses were actually working, that his sweet Princess even relaxed into him slightly for a few seconds. Feeling that his efforts were having the desired effect, Ares then placed a loving kiss against her head but before he even had a chance to react to what she was going to do, the next thing he knew she was abruptly pulling herself from his embrace and was distancing herself from him significantly.

 _Here we go_... he thought, her walls were back up. His analytical eyes watched her as she walked back and forth across the floor in front of him, pacing like some caged animal that was desperately seeking a way out of their confinement.

"Xena…"

"Don't!" she quickly shouted, cutting him off and sending a harsh glare his way, stopping whatever lies were about to come slithering out of his mouth, "…. I'm fine…" she just as swiftly stated, even though she was far from it.

"I know you better than that…." was his calm response, seeing the doubtful look that came across her eyes the moment the words left his mouth and the distrust, "…. and you used to be a much better liar…"

"Take me back, now!" she growled out, making it clear that she wasn't asking him, she was **telling** him. She had made a mistake, a potentially dangerous mistake and who knows what this was going to cost her. With Ares nothing ever came with no strings attached and the longer she stayed there, the bigger his request was going to be. She chastised herself for her momentary lap in judgment, for having foolishly allowed herself fall victim to him once again.

But choosing to ignore her request, preferring to act like she hadn't really said anything at all, Ares got up from his throne and slowly started to make his way over to his visibly agitated Princess. Her defenses were up though and each step that he took only made her body grow even tenser while her need to lash out at someone was building considerably. Her grief had turned to anger now and the only thing she wanted to do at the moment was hurt someone else in return, to inflict as much pain to equal the same amount of despair that was flowing through her.

"I don't have time for your little games Ares." she made sure to spit out with as much venom as she possibly could the moment he finished his journey across his throne room, stopping right in front of her.

However, the War God could see that she was trying to lash out now, to get a rise out of him and somehow get him to slip right into her hands if she angered him enough. But he wasn't going to let her goad him into doing what she wanted, he knew her far better than she was willing to admit to herself and she was only acting on instinct now. That impeccable ability to put on that iron mask, just like he had instilled into her mind as a defense mechanism, and make the world hurt as much as she did, annoyed him to the point that words just couldn't describe it.

Trying not to let it bother him though, Ares reached up and endeavored to softly caress her cheek, not caring that the last thing she wanted was for him to touch her. But before his fingers had the joy of caressing her silky skin, Xena just as quickly slapped viciously his hand away from her face.

"Don't touch me!" she bit out aggressively, pushing against his chest for good measure, thus putting some much needed space between them.

Her actions started to irritate Ares a little- and though he was trying not to let her get to him, with her he could never win. She was obviously attempting to shut him out now and he wondered- not for the first time- how exactly they had gotten to this point in their relationship when not so long ago he was the only one she had allowed to remove that mask. Sure, he had done some things that he wasn't entirely proud of throughout their turbulent past- especially since she left him- but how long was she going to hold that against him?

Her own checkered past didn't look any better than his did, littered with just as many sinful deeds- and he still forgave even the biggest of them all, in spite of the fact that it had left the largest scar on him, larger than anything else ever could. Not even the dagger of Helios could have wounded him as deeply as when that mongrel half-brother of his had tainted her mind against him, when they had been in a minor spat with each other, filling her head with how bad he was for her when in fact that insistent nuisance in his life had no clue what it was that they had been through together. What had drove that proverbial knife through his heart even more was that she had been so angry with him back then, that she ate up his lies like it was some kind of special ambrosia, choosing to believe the poison that was being fed to her and deciding to ignore every single moment that had ever happened between them- to the point that now he could no longer reach his Princess.

He wasn't completely sure where things had gone wrong exactly. He had replayed the scenario over and over again in his mind trying to find the precise moment when his world got turned upside down. They had a fight in his temple, an apparently regular fight that they always seemed to have with each other about something that was insignificant. He then left his Warrior Princess alone for a few days- a chance for both of them to cool down a little and when he finally came back, having actually missed her and wanting to make amends for that stupid little argument, the sight of the two of them in each other's arms, that bastard thrusting himself within his Princess and her seductive little moans that drifted up to his ears, letting him know that she was enjoying every moment of it, everything had crushed his immortal soul with such a severity that he thought that he was going to die that day.

Ares quickly shook the unwanted memory from his head. Indeed, that was something that still haunted him to this day and it was the only time that he thought that he could have actually killed her. His hand unconsciously drifted to his chest, lightly rubbing the area where his heart would be for a few seconds as the sensation of that dreadful memory lingered in his mind for a moment. Why was he even doing this with her now, she was never going to let her walls down enough to allow him even a small step behind them. No, what they had once shared, the years of intimate relations with each other had been destroyed within the matter of minutes because someone had to stick their nose in where it didn't belong and made her doubt her faith in him, selfishly taking away the only thing that had ever mattered to him and not stopping for an instant to think that he should have left it well enough alone.

Not even after all this time, there wasn't anything that the War God wouldn't have done for the chance to have those hypnotizing blue moons of hers look at him the way she once did instead of constantly seeing the loathing that she directed at him whenever they saw each other. Looking back up into her sorrowful eyes- that she was doing a poor job of hiding- he once again reached up and this time succeeded in lightly running his fingertips down her cheek. No matter how many times he told himself that he was done with her, that he should just erase her from his memory and undo all of the things that she had somehow managed to awaken within him, he just couldn't let her go and he never left her side when she truly needed him and he wasn't going to do it now even though he knew that she was going to fight him every step of the way.

"Why do you let those pathetic mortals get under your skin the way you do?"

"Don't even pretend to act like you know me. You don't know the first thing about me!" she viciously responded, despite knowing that it was the furthest thing from the truth she had ever said, but she was looking to maim with it and she once again shoved his hand away from her and started to walk away from him.

"You're at war with yourself, Xena…" he said, choosing to ignore her comment, trying to suppress just how much her words had really stung, "…. and there's a hunger inside of you that you've been neglecting."

"You'd like that wouldn't you? For me to come crawling back to you, feeding this supposed hunger and be your little Warrior Queen…?! But it's not going to happen Ares so you can just forget it!"

"There isn't anything I'd want more than for you to come back to me but that is not what I meant." he growled out, she was getting to him, pushing his buttons in a way that only she could.

Why was it so hard for her to trust him?! If he had really wanted to take advantage of her then he would have done it back at her campsite. It was the perfect moment, a hurt and impressionable Xena filled with an unruly conflict and all she needed was a small push in the right direction to have unleashed the blood lust.

"What is it that you meant then? What type of angle are you trying to play this time?" she just kept on attacking, "Do you really think that this pathetic little act of yours is going to suddenly change my mind, that I'll fall at your feet and be eternally grateful for your sudden generosity, leading your army again and wash the ground in my enemies' blood, while all the while you'll be manipulating and scheming behind my back just like the selfish bastard that you are?"

The Warrior Princess had seen the slight hurt that had come across Ares' eyes before he quickly covered it with the anger that now began to form in him. This was what she needed, he was the only one who could do it, the only one who was capable of doing it. She needed him to get angry, it was the only way that she could be stopped before she ended up slaughtering the world. It was better off without her in it anyway, no one would miss her and she wanted the War God to be the one to do it.

"What's the matter God of War, did I hit too closely to your plan? How sad it is that the almighty Ares himself can't even tame one unruly mortal? You don't even deserve to be a God." she mocked, a vindictive grin forming on her face while each word hit their intended mark to perfection.

The next thing she knew, Xena was being viciously slammed against the marble wall while Ares brutally dug his fingers into her shoulders. His eyes flared with a burning hatred for her- her words had surely done their job and she had knocked that cool façade right out of him- but before she could react, she was suddenly gasping for breath when Ares delivered a wicked punch to her midsection and she doubled over from it. Desperately trying to fill her lungs with air once again, Ares wrapped his hand in her hair savagely and pulled her head up to make her look at him.

"Is that what you want Xena? You want me to tame you? Well, Honey, all you had to do was ask." he breathed out on a deadly tone, his grip tightening in her hair and then brought his knee up, making it collide violently with her stomach again before shoving her harshly to floor.

With her momentary breather, Xena took the chance to try and get her lungs working properly again and when the War God reached down to deliver another deadly blow, she quickly reacted and supplied an equally bone crushing blow to his jaw that sent him staggering back for a moment. She hastily got to her feet. She knew that this fight wasn't going to be easy, although she didn't want to win anyway but she had to make it look good. With that thought in mind, she drew her sword, the War God drawing his own in return and they clashed together.

For several long minutes they fought, both feeding off of the fury that was coming from the other while they viciously swung their swords at each other. They were too equally matched and Xena knew that she had to give him everything or he would pick up on what she was trying to do. She had to keep him fighting her, it had to come down to Ares really tiring her out in the end if she was ever going to get him to deliver that deadly blow.

But the War God, having trained with her countless times in the past had soon picked up on her little subtle antics. She was fighting him like she always did, yes, but her reaction time was way off. She was barely attempting to block his blows, seeming to ward off his attacks just at the last moment as if she really wanted him to strike her, only to parry against him ferociously. What was she doing, her focus had never been so off before and that is when it hit him. His Princess actually wanted him to kill her! Did she even know what it was that she was trying to ask of him?! Ares was immediately sickened by the thought, her lifeless body lying at his feet, slain by his own hands and manipulated into doing it just for her own selfish needs.

Not for a second though was he about to give in to her self-regarding desires, so, furious with her for having dared to try that with him, he backhanded her across the face viciously before he sheathed his own blade and turned his back to her.

"I'm not going to kill you Xena, so you can just get that silly notion right out of your head!"

That last blow had caused her lip to start bleeding a little and she wiped the blood away from her mouth while she watched Ares walk away from her. She immediately started to panic… This was the only way and she quickly charged him again but he soon turned around and halted her attack, grabbing her by the throat and making her sword fly from her hand in one swift motion. He could see the despair in her eyes, the need to have him do it, but he couldn't, that would have destroyed him and he roughly pushed her away from him.

Not being deterred in the slightest, Xena attacked him once again, landing lethal blows against his body to try and make him defend himself. She struck against him until she had eventually backed him up to the wall and she punched him over and over again.

"Fight me you bastard!" she shouted at him, hitting against his chest savagely, each blow having a less harmful effect each time she connected with his body, "Fight me!"

She backhanded him across the face and when their eyes met again, tears were shimmering brightly in her own. The agony that was in her eyes was killing Ares and he reached up and gently cupped her face while her fists softly connected with his chest again. She tried to fight against him at first but he pulled her closer to himself, encasing her protectively in his embrace and once his arms were wrapped around her nice and tight, his Princess had fallen completely apart in them and started crying into his chest again. Her body seemed to have finally given out from the wave of emotions and she crumbled against him and he slowly lowered them to the floor. Her sobs racked her body for what seemed like an eternity and Ares was completely helpless to do anything to stop them. He felt so weak at that moment, all this great power he had and there was nothing that he could do for his sweet Princess. He held her tightly in his arms, doing even the impossible to try and calm her a bit when suddenly it felt like someone had ripped his heart out with the words that came flowing out of her mouth.

"I don't deserve to live…" were her strangled words while she continued to make a habit of keeping Ares' chest nice and drenched with her tears.

"Don't talk like that…" he rushed to reply, urgently cupping her face to make her look at him, "… you're hurting right now and I promise you Sweetheart that everything is going to be fine. I'll make sure of it, ok?" he encouraged, searching for her sapphire eyes to make sure that she had heard him, softly brushing a few tears away when she nodded her head slightly.

They just sat in each other's arms for several more moments, silently holding each other's gaze. The sadness that was in her eyes he didn't like seeing and he ran his fingers softly along a cheek, gently caressing her silky skin before he just rested his hand against her face and then leaned in and captured her lips in a loving, tender kiss. It was meant to be a short kiss as he pulled back to search out her sapphire eyes again, but it had been so long since he had the chance to taste his sweet Princess and given that she didn't seem like she was really objecting to it, Ares gently brushed a few stray raven locks out of her face and then softly cradled her head and closed the gap between them and took possession of her mouth again, deepening the kiss more from their first soft one. It stayed at the same slow pace though, both of their lips gently moving against the other's, neither one moving to rush through it, preferring to savor the moment and make each sweet kiss last longer while each one became deeper. Ares wanted her to know that she was truly needed, he needed her and his slow tender kisses were supposed to show Xena just how much.

After a few more seconds of the same slow warm kisses, soft sighs and moans, Ares broke away from her and then softly placed her head against his chest. She didn't resist him and went willingly into his arms and relaxed against him, curling herself into his embrace before she let her eyes close. Having everything that he needed right in his arms, the War God just sat there with her for a while longer, soothingly running his fingers through her raven tresses.

She was at peace in his arms and he only wished that he could keep her there but he ultimately knew that once morning came, things would go back to the way they were. She would hate him once again and his Princess will lock this away along with all the other countless moments that she had willingly chosen to forget. With a heavy sigh, he leaned forward and placed an adoring kiss against her head and then gathered her more to him and carried her to his bed chamber.

Once inside, he carefully walked them over to the bed and gently laid his now half asleep Princess down in the middle of it. With a small wave of his hand, he changed her out of her leathers and into a silk nightgown so she would be more comfortable. He smoothed back her hair for a moment and then leaned forward and pressed his lips against her forehead in a loving kiss. He pulled back from her, savoring the image of his Queen lying in his bed once again, where he knew in his heart she belonged, lying right there beside him in his arms night after night for the rest of eternity. But reality was a cruel thing, one that this cold and empty bed reminded him of night after night, and he knew that this was something that she was never going to give him. He had lost her, partially due because of the interference of another, though he knew that his own actions had a reason for her staying away and he had no clue on where to even begin to get her back.

He didn't want to fight her any more, but if that was what it took in order for him to be able to be close to her then he would do it. He wanted so much to make love to her again, to hold her in his arms and never let her go while he passionately showed her just how important she was to him still, that it hurt. He had missed her terribly, and not being able to touch her and see her gorgeous face every day was pure torture for him. She was his sanctuary and he felt so empty without her there, his whole long miserable desolate life didn't mean a thing until his Princess had been sent to him to brighten it up. Knowing that once she stirred, the last thing she would want to see was him, Ares placed one last kiss against her cheek and then began to leave the room.

"Ares….?"

It was barely loud enough to have even been heard, but the War God did hear it, there was no way that he could ever not hear that sweet voice and he slowly turned around and looked at her slumbering form. Her bright sapphire eyes were peering up at him from the bed and for a moment there he thought that he had seen something else besides hate in her gaze. No words were said though, not a single syllable uttered after he heard his name flow from her lips. The only thing the Warrior Princess did do though was shift over a little in bed and nestle herself back into it. It was a seemingly minor movement, one that anyone else would not have even thought twice about but to Ares that was a very small sign she had given him and he wasn't going to let the opportunity slip through his fingers.

He made his way back over to the bed and cautiously climbed his way into it, thinking that the slightest wrong movement might snatch everything away from him, and he settled himself down next to her. After carefully sliding himself under the same sheet as Xena, thinking about every move that he made while casually getting closer and closer to her, his Princess crept her way closer to him and snuggled herself in his embrace. He instinctively lifted his arm, and she wrapped it around her while she nuzzled her head against his chest as her own hand softly covered his heart. It took him a moment to respond, too shocked to fully comprehend that he actually had her in his arms once again and that she was there because she actually wanted to be, and he wrapped his arms around her tightly, pulling her closer to himself before she had the chance to change her mind. One out of two wasn't bad, it was extremely great odds for him and he placed a loving kiss against the top of his sweet Princess' head before securing her to him more snugly.

Meanwhile, Xena had her own thoughts whirling wildly inside her head. This was what she had missed the most since she had left him, the feeling of him holding on to her so strongly, like he never wanted her to leave his embrace. Things between them had gotten so strained and she knew deep down what the catalyst that had caused that was. She had betrayed him, in the worst possible way and what made it even nastier was that Ares didn't even do anything to deserve that and she hated herself for it, she could only imagine what it was that he thought when he looked at her. He was probably disgusted with her, she was certainly sickened with herself so there was no way that he could have possibly felt otherwise. It was just another thing to add to that long list of things that kept her up at night.

Pushing the unwelcome thoughts from her head, Xena burrowed herself closer to Ares and in response his hold adjusted to her, closing in around her more and for the first time in a very long time the Warrior Princess drifted off to sleep completely at peace in the arms of War. Something that neither one of them even thought was ever going to happen again.


	3. Because You Love Me

**To the lovely Crimson Rose… First, thank you for your kind words! :)))) Those reviews sure do make my day and I'm so glad I can at least keep you guessing. :))))) As to your question, not to worry, I am working on the next chapter for Love and Lies at the moment so I hope it will be long enough for you even if it wasn't soon. ;))) As for Coming Home, I have a few chapters waiting for that one that I need to send to my beta reader so I can post them but she is an adorably sweet busy gal and I don't want to overwhelm her. :)))) Everything is on its way soon! :)))))**

Chapter 3

The War God never even fell asleep… he couldn't really, because he wanted to remember every single second of this in detail. If he had fallen asleep then everything would have been over too quickly and there was also the chance that his Princess would have slipped out while he was unconscious, so he preferred to stay awake, gazing down fondly at the most gorgeous Goddess that had ever walked the earth, indulging in touching her while he softly ran his fingertips along her exposed flesh. He was still in awe that this was actually happening and he still wasn't completely convinced that it wasn't all a dream. But the way she curled her body closer to his when she got cold, the heat of her tantalizing breath against his chest… his dreams were never this good or lasted this long so his mind couldn't have been playing tricks on him.

While he took his time tracing the contours of her luscious body, Ares heard a distant voice calling his name and he frowned to himself. But he wasn't going to leave, he didn't care who it was, he wanted to see his Princess open those gorgeous sapphire eyes of hers and so he blocked the voice out. Nothing was going to interrupt this for him, he didn't care if she immediately pushed him away afterwards, he just wanted to see her eyes open. She was a fascinating creature to watch and seeing those baby blues opening for a new day was something that he wanted to experience again tremendously.

But there was that voice again, angrier this time and Ares started to become agitated from it. He knew what Zeus wanted but he had the worst timing in the world and it seemed like once again the things that he wanted so badly were always being taken away from him. His brow furrowed from the thought but then he looked down at his sleeping Princess and his frown soon faded. He gently shifted Xena and laid her on her back, looking down at her while she still slept. He started to think that maybe he should rouse her a little, catch a quick peek before he left and he moved his hand to her face and tried to do just that.

Ares tenderly began to run his fingers along her cheek, feeling her shiver a little from his touch and although she had mewed a little from the contact she didn't open her eyes at all from it. A light smile formed on his face, chuckling softly to himself, stubborn as always she was, choosing to always defy him and as crazy as it was, he actually liked that response so much better.

"I'll be back before you know it, Darling." he whispered against her ear and then pulled back to look at her, gently pulling the sheet up to cover her. Seeing her like that, his Princess lying so peaceful in his bed and her slightly parted lips that seemed to be just begging for his attention, he just couldn't help himself and he leaned forward and captured her mouth with his own in a soft tender kiss. But he was greedy though and he couldn't just stop at one and so he placed a few more chaste kisses against her lips before leaving his sleeping beauty.

Several moments later, as if instinctively knowing that Ares had left her and knowing that something was missing, Xena shivered from the sudden emptiness that had taken over her form and she pulled the covers around herself more tightly, trying to cocoon herself once again with that cozy warmth that had surrounded her all night. But failing to acquire what she had just had, her still sleepy blue eyes began to slowly pry themselves apart. As to have been expected, she found herself alone in his bed and she wondered if she had just imagined the whole thing. But then again, the prickly sensation that still lingered on her lips told her something else, it was the same sensation that she would always get after Ares had kissed her. Some kind of electric feeling that remained on her skin that tingled with the awareness that he had touched her and her hand drifted up to her mouth and she softly touched against her lips for a moment, as if she could still feel him there.

She didn't know what to think about the night before or why he even came but she needed him last night and she was glad that he did. She had hit an all-time low and she could still see the haunting look that was in Ares' eyes when he realized that she wanted him to kill her. But she soon shook that unpleasant memory out of her head, after all he did tell her that everything was going to be fine and the look in his eyes that told her that he would do everything in his power to make sure that it was- she actually believed him even though she knew that it was impossible. She might not have been able to undo what had been done but she could overcome it. Her wicked past had been fueled by all that hate and revenge that had turned her into a vicious killer who just wanted to make the world hurt along with her but that was no longer who she was now.

With War, you couldn't expect to be no causalities and when the threat was right in your own backyard you had to make a stand against or fall victim to it. The Warrior Princess knew that Gabrielle's mind worked a little differently and she liked her positive outlook on life but with herself, she was a warrior and that was never going to change. When the people she loved and cared about were threatened, she would fight to protect them with a fierce passion no matter what the cost. If that made her a bad person, then so be it, but she wasn't going to just let them be taken away from her if she had a chance to stop it.

A few seconds later, her silent musings were soon interrupted by a voice that she really didn't expect to hear, especially since she was sitting in the middle of Ares' bed wearing a rather sexy piece of fabric and she just knew what the thoughts that were rolling through that head were going to be.

"I have to say…" came the bubbly voice of the Love Goddess as she materialized next to Xena, "…. when the thought of coming to check on my big bro entered my mind, your presence was the last thing I expected to pick up here."

"Hello, Aphrodite." came Xena's monotonous response, she already knew what she was in for and given the state in which the Goddess had found her in, she could already see the wheels turning in her head as an all knowing smile began to form on her new companion's face.

The Love Goddess just didn't know what to think with this lovely surprise that she had just found. Here she was, Xena, her brother's flame, the love of his life sitting in his bed with messy, I've just been fucked very well, hair. Not to mention that her lips still looked thoroughly kissed by someone who seemed to have just wanted to devour her. In a nutshell, she didn't need the Fates' all seeing eyes to tell her just who that certain someone was. She could hardly contain the excitement that was now rising within her at what this meant for her favorite couple. She just couldn't believe it- they had finally made amends and stopped torturing themselves by staying apart. Her heart just swelled by thinking how they had probably reconciled, more than likely making up for all of that lost time !

She could have sworn that she had felt something last night, a certain feeling when two lovers connected or in their case, reconnected. She was so glad that it was them, they deserved it after punishing themselves apart for so long, each one stubbornly refusing to admit that they needed the other and choosing to do all of those ridiculous things to each other. Aphrodite just didn't understand why it was so hard for them to just open up and admit that they were in love- for crying out loud, that was something that they should not keep for themselves, but yet, they did it constantly, thus denying themselves the one thing that they really wanted.

"Well hello there, Warrior Babe." she said, unable to wipe that silly grin off of her face- she was just too happy that the couple of the century were together again.

"I guess I don't need to ask how your night went." she stated, her salacious grin widening even more as the countless scenarios involving the two of them whirled around madly inside her head of how they had rekindled their relationship.

"This is not what it looks like." Xena rushed to reply, already knowing what the overly highly imaginative Love Goddess' mind was thinking about.

"Really?!"

She had denied it way to quickly for the Goddess' intuition and it only confirmed what Aphrodite was already suspecting, something had definitely happened between them last night, "So you're saying that you and the Stud Muffin didn't get reacquainted last night?"

"You shouldn't always believe what you see, even **your** eyes can play tricks on you."

For a moment, the Warrior Princess' words seemed to have stumped the Love Goddess…. Your eyes playing tricks on you? That didn't make any sense and she could clearly see that something had happened last night, otherwise the Warrior Babe would not be here now. But seeing the stern look that was on Xena's face, Aphrodite could see that what she had hoped for was not what had actually happened. However, something did occur and she was going to get to the bottom of it, it wasn't every day that she found the Warrior Babe half naked in her brothers' bed, well not as frequently as she used to be, and she knew what she had felt the night before, there was no mistaking it, she had been doing this for years.

"So what you're saying here is that you and Ares didn't…"

The slight negative shake of Xena's head was all the clarification Aphrodite needed and it completely sucked the fun out of this joyous day by finding her there. "That totally sucks… why not?!"

Xena just looked at her with the most dumbfounded look on her face, was she really serious? I mean, she always knew that Dite had a few screws loose that were rolling around but sometimes the Goddess still managed to shock her with the things that she would do or say.

"Well… it might have something to do with the fact that we are on different sides. We are constantly fighting each other, ready to tear each other apart and foil each other's plans…?" she cleverly informed the somewhat lost Goddess who seemed to have forgotten where their relationship had taken a turn "… Not exactly what one might call a romantic setting."

"And your point is?" Dite quizzically asked, not really seeing the difference when it came to these two. "That's how you guys always are, one moment you are at each other's throats, ready to kill one another and then the next, you're having amazingly hot sex to make up for it."

The Warrior Princess just scuffed slightly, rolling her eyes at the Goddess' ridiculous reasoning…. They didn't have sex every time they fought… but then her brows furrowed together pensively while she thought about it for a moment.

"I must say, your guys use of foreplay is kinda kinky… all of that barely controlled rage for one another just to end up combusting and ripping each other's clothes off the next… my, my, my…!" the Love Goddess had to fan herself faintly from the erotic images that formed in her mind from a few months back when she had witnessed that exact display between the pair before Ares had whisked them off so he could have his way with his lovely Princess- away from prying eyes.

"Yeah, well, we've both moved on." she stated as a matter of fact, ignoring the slight ache that formed in her chest that was saying otherwise.

Finding her statement quite amusing, Aphrodite soon burst into a small fit of laughter, but seeing the harsh glare Xena sent her way, quickly sobered the Goddess up. She had been on the receiving end of her fury in the past and sometimes she couldn't really tell who was worst, Ares or Xena? They were a perfect match, and she wished that she could have taken credit for having brought them together but they had worked some special magic of their own and their hearts had found their way to each other and stitched themselves together.

"Oh, come on sweet pea, you don't really believe that do you?" the Goddess knew she had her work cut out for her, trying to convince Xena of anything- when her mind was set on it was like finding a friendly hydra, "Ares was crazy about you back then, he still is."

"The only person Ares cares about is himself, always has and always will." she didn't like the turn the conversation was now taking and she quickly tried to steer it into something that didn't make her have to deal with the fact that the War God was someone who she needed.

"Then why are you here, Xena?!" Aphrodite was mad now, she couldn't believe that the Warrior Babe's mind had become that blind for all that Ares had done for her, "I may not know exactly what happened between you two last night but I know enough. If Ares didn't care then you would not be here right now. This is his private quarters, he never brings anyone here but yet, here you are."

"It's just another ploy to try and soften me up to get me to come back to him." she replied a bit too touchy.

"He does want you to come back to him Xena, but not for the reasons that he has led you to believe." the Love Goddess whispered, and she could see that she had made a crack into that wall around her heart. Now all she had to do was try to make it even bigger so Ares could find his way back in. "You frighten him, of course he will never admit it, preferring to stubbornly keep it to himself and refuse to acknowledge it in any way."

The Warrior Princess found the Goddess' words to be quite puzzling, Ares actually scared of something… the thought alone made no sense to her at all. How could she, a mere mortal have made a God afraid of anything? If anything, all she did was make him angry, constantly pushing his buttons by defying him. But the next words that came falling out of Aphrodite's mouth had left her truly stunned.

"You make him feel things that he has never felt before, and because he's never felt them he doesn't know how to handle you. He's broken every rule he has ever had since you walked into his life... he's in love with you, Xena."

"What are you talking about?"

"It's true, you can't tell me you have never felt it before? All that time you've spent together." she could see her words were hitting their mark, she only hoped that it would be enough.

Meanwhile, Xena's mind was whirling with what the Love Goddess was telling her, was she trying to trick her or something? The War God didn't care about her, he had never cared and somehow he had gotten his sister in on his scheme in trying to manipulate her once again. In her mind, she knew that she couldn't trust him but her heart was saying something else entirely and the two were having a vicious battle with each other, one that her heart was slowly winning. She couldn't deny that she had felt something when she was with Ares, she still did, and he certainly had his unique way of showing his affection towards her. Despite all the rough patches that they had, they also had some good moments together, ones that made them both forget for a while that they were God and Chosen, but just two regular people spending time with each other because they genuinely wanted to be in each other's presence.

"Ares would kill me if he ever found out I told you this…" came the Goddess' soft voice, snapping the Warrior Princess out of her thoughts, "… but he does love you, Xena, and he wants a family with you."

As expected, she wasn't entirely surprised with the shocked expression that came across the Warrior Babe's face. No… she figured that was something that the War God had never shared with her before, the Fates only knew why he never did- could have saved them both a lot of heartache, but that would require him talking about his feelings and she knew all too well just how much he liked doing that. Plus, Xena didn't exactly make things easy either and the two of them were just so damn stubborn that they were lucky to have none other than the Love Goddess to help bridge that gap and bring to light the things that she hoped beyond all hope that one day they could say it face to face.

"You're lying!" was her strangled reply. That was something that was not in the cards for them, people like them didn't get to have those types of things, least of all with each other.

"I'm not lying, why would I do that when in fact I wasn't even supposed to know about it? I kinda surprised him one day after you left him and I found him watching it." she told her, a soft fond smile forming on her face as she recalled the memory, "Ares was so wrapped up on gazing at it that he didn't even know I was there."

"Watching it?" now what did she mean by that, and why would Ares be watching anything that had to do with them after she had left his service, it just didn't make any sense, "How could he have been watching it?"

"It was a possible future for the two of you, I can show it to you if you like?"

Xena knew that she should not do this; it was going to be a huge mistake if she did and she should just shut down the whole idea. That was something that she didn't want to know anything about. But despite every logical part of her brain telling her that she was heading towards dangerous territory, there was a part of her that desperately wanted to know what exactly it was that this future of the two of them together had entailed. She had often wondered, back when they first got together, what a future with the War God would be like and knowing that Ares had actually seen it made her want to know even more. With an almost unperceivable movement, Xena faintly nodded her head in agreement and before she even had a chance to react, the Love Goddess was placing her hand against her forehead and soon, images started to form in her head.

 _The sound of urgent talk could be heard making its way down one of the corridors within Ares' fortress. The two voices seemed to be having a crucial discussion about a particular_ _idea_ _, the tones of their voices sometimes dropping down to almost a whisper to keep possible unwanted ears from hearing the secret plans that they were delving further into, every now and then a bit of playful laughter filling the air as well._

" _So then, the forces began to push further into the town, the flanks of Matoes men forcing their way into the center of the city, the two opposing armies clashing together in a violent passion…" Ares swung his own sword a few times for dramatic effect, "…. Blood soaking the roads while the fight continued to roar into the night…"_

 _All that time, a set of bright blue eyes were staring up at the War God with rapt attention, hanging on to his every word and not wanting to miss a second of it while he regaled her with his story. A few times a small gasp in surprise escaping from her throat when things seemed to have taken an unexpected turn. He had her completely enthralled with his tale, her expressive eyes shining radiantly while she got more and more engrossed into it, letting Ares know that he had her complete undivided attention._

" _The warlord Matoes had taken the Prince hostage_ _and was cunningly_ _planning on ransoming him back with the other treasure he had acquired,_ _but_ _his lust to destroy the entire city outweighed the thought of making himself a very rich man and he decided to kill the Prince_ _precisely when_ _his father could watch the deadly blow happen…."_

" _Noooooo!" came a small soft voice, "… You can't kill him, he needs to save the Princess and stop the warlord from destroying the town!" she firmly stated, her eyes pleading with the War God for him to have a different outcome to his tale, after all_ _that they had been through,_ _it just couldn't end that way._

" _And why can't I?" Ares asked_ _\- a bit_ _amused, gazing down into her gorgeous sapphire eyes that were begging with him, "It's my story and if I want the Prince to lose his life then I can do that."_

" _Because you love me daddy!" the little girl stated with such honesty_ _that his heart melted. The image_ _of her bottom lip trembling_ _slightly while_ _she gave the War God her best puppy dog look, her small hands curling around the edge of the blanket, holding it around herself tightly while her eyes sought out his and stared up at him, batting her lashes a few times and sniffling for good_ _measure_ _only made it harder for him to refuse her._

 _Ares found the whole act completely scandalous, and he crossed his arms across his chest to show her that he wasn't very much impressed with her little act and that he wasn't going to give in to her little request. She was just as bad as her mother, thinking that if she just looked at him like that, making her expressive eyes seem even brighter that he would just fall right into her hands. He was the God of War, he didn't just roll over and play nice just because someone asked him to. But as he continued to stare down at his daughter, her eyes glistening more with the light sheen of her unfallen tears… oh, she was so good… his_ _ **no give in**_ _attitude started to cave and just like her enticingly seductive mother that she seemed to be a carbon copy of, he couldn't refuse her anything either._

 _Rolling his eyes dramatically and with a slight annoyed sigh, making the little girl giggle softly, Ares sat down next to his little Princess and gathered her tenderly in his arms, placing a loving kiss against her forehead._

" _Alright…" he grumbled, feigning irritation and making his daughter's small smile widen more with his actions, "… the Prince broke free of his confines and fought his way through the last remaining man of Matoes' army. Having eliminated the threat that besieged the city, he found the Princess and freed her and the two lived happily ever after." he concluded, not really believing that he had let himself be suckered into her devious little plan._

 _The moment his tale had ended though, he was rewarded with a light sweet kiss against his cheek and he smiled fondly while she nestled herself against him and wrapped her tiny arms around his torso._

" _I love you, daddy!"_

 _In response, Ares wrapped his arms around his precious little bundle, holding her tightly to himself. Who was he kidding, there wasn't anything that he wouldn't do for her and he would gladly submit to her will if that meant that he could keep that sweet smile on her face all the time. She was one of the most important people in the world to him, her mother being the other, and his two gorgeous girls held tightly his heart in their hands._

" _I love you too, sweetheart." he whispered softly against her ear, making her light hold squeeze around him more strongly._

 _She had soon fallen asleep, cuddled snugly in her fathers' arms and Ares placed a soft kiss against the top of her_ _head_ _before he gently laid her back down on the bed. He pulled the blanket up and tucked her in and_ _placed another_ _loving_ _kiss_ _against her cheek this time_ _before he tenderly smoothed back her hair for a moment. He was the luckiest guy in the world, not only did he get to have the woman of his dreams lying in his arms night after night, but she had given him a beautiful little girl… a family… something that_ _he hadn't even realized_ _that he desired until the day his Princess had opened up that possibility for him._

 _With one final warmhearted gaze directed at the product of_ _their_ _love, Ares began to leave the room._

" _Daddy?" the little girls voice called out, making the War God stop in his tracks and turn back to look at her_

" _Yes, Princess."_

" _Do you think mommy would like my request?" she asked, staring intently up at her father, hoping that what she was asking wasn't going to be something her mother would hate._

 _Ares just chuckled softly at her nervousness and he made his way back over to her._

" _Trust me sweetheart, I believe mommy is going to love the idea."_

" _But how do you know, have you_ _already_ _asked her?" she asked more anxiously, she really wanted this to be a good thing._

" _No, not yet but I know her, more than she lets on and she will be thrilled by the prospect." he told her again, reassuring that what she was asking wasn't something that was unattainable, "Now, go to sleep… we wouldn't want mommy to come in here and find you still awake. She'll have both our necks if she found you up this late."_

 _Having tucked his daughter back in, Ares made his way down the corridor to find his other precious Princess. Reaching their bedchamber, he pushed the door open and found his Goddess stretched out on the bed sleeping, looking completely alluring as the sheet covered her tantalizing body slightly from the waist down. He let his eyes roam over her for a moment, seeing how she shifted a little restless- as if she knew that his heated gaze was now upon her. He_ _slowly made_ _his way to the foot of the bed, without_ _taking his eyes off of his gorgeous Princess,_ _while_ _thousands of different scenarios of all the pleasurable ways that he could go about waking her up were whirling wildly inside his head._

 _He carefully climbed his way onto the bed, predatorily covering her luscious body with his own. Even when she slept she drove him out of his mind and he placed slow gentle kisses against her arm, gradually moving up and nibbling against the side of her neck for a moment, making his sweet Princess moan lightly._ _He smiled, thrilled_ _by the effect he had on her and he began to kiss against her throat more passionately._

" _Ares…" came her soft whisper, shivering more at the unique feeling of his caress._

" _Well, hello there, sleepy head."_ _he replied, kissing against_ _that racing vein, making it pulse even more maddeningly with each touch of his lips before he pulled back to look at her._

 _When his lovely Princess turned to look at him, his breath caught in his throat for a moment. All these years and she still managed to stop him in his tracks with just a simple gaze. She was absolutely stunning, from the top of her head down to the soles of her feet and he still couldn't believe that this magnificent Goddess was all his. Staring hungrily at her slightly parted lips, Ares just couldn't take it anymore, he needed to taste her, to own her, possess her and he leaned in to do just that._ _It was no wonder that_ _his Princess' reaction to his ministrations_ _came as_ _a complete shock when she turned away and denied him that kiss. He had seen the lust in her eyes but yet she was refusing him…._ _For a second, it didn't matter..._ _he loved it when she played hard to get._

" _What, no kiss?" he asked, lightly amused by it_ _but at the same time slightly irritated_ _since he hadn't had the chance to kiss his sweet Princess all day._

 _Xena shifted herself underneath him, moving to lie on her back and the War God took that as an extremely good sign and he draped himself over her, softly nudging her legs apart and situating himself between them comfortably. He could stay like this for eternity, his Princess lying beneath him while he pleasured her endlessly and he leaned in once again to get started on that fantasy,_ _but_ _the Warrior Princess had placed her hands against his chest and pushed him back from her, denying him yet again for what he was longing for._

" _After that horrendous tale you told our daughter, I don't think so" she chastised him, "You shouldn't be rewarded for your bad behavior."_

" _What….?! She loved it!" he defended, but seeing the strict look she gave him, he knew he wasn't going to change her mind, "Ok, ok… it might have been_ _a little bit too dramatic for her age."_

" _A little?"_

" _Ok, maybe a lot." he grumbled but a sly grin began to form on his face a few seconds later though. "Tell me, how can I make it up to you Princess?"_

 _His hand leisurely began to drift down her body, lightly running down her leg before making its way back up and slowly lifting the material of her shift while he sought out what he wanted. Xena trembled with his caress_ _…Feeling_ _his slow ascend was making her blood run maddeningly fast through her veins and made her shift closer to him and when he finally made contact, a soft moan lightly escaped her mouth while he started to slowly manipulate her clit. He was trying to distract her and his method of doing just that wasn't a bad one to start with. She started to rock her hips with his movements, moaning a little louder, her whimpers flowing up into the air and filling the War Gods ears._

 _By the Gods she looked so damn sexy, her eyes glazed with passion_ _like that_ _while her body arched into his more when he finally slipped his fingers into her leaking pussy and started to massage her g-spot. He was driving her crazy, leading her right to the edge but denying her the sweet end that she wanted only to edge her back to it before slowing down once again. He was deliberately teasing her, making her crave it and oh dear Gods did she yearn for it!_

" _So… about that kiss?" Ares asked, a wicked grin pulling at the corners of his mouth as he thrust his fingers into her harder, only to slow his tempo when he sensed that she was close._

" _Wh… what about it?" she moaned out, brutally digging her nails into the bed sheet while desperately curving into him more as he tormented her with his movements._

" _Do I get one?"_

 _Xena just raised a scheming eyebrow at him, whimpering out more when he started to stroke her in a way that drove her mad. She was now panting heavily with his ministrations, her chest heaving almost violently while she longed to find her release. She stared up into his auburn eyes, a playful smile forming on her face._

" _No." was her breathy reply._

" _Tsk, tsk, tsk…" he sighed out dramatically, plunging his fingers deeper into her, "… that could be a problem…."_

 _But the War God had his own way of making her give him what he wanted and he started to move his fingers within her with a fierce determination, making sure that the palm of his hand hit against her swollen clit each time he plunged into her. The friction alone was driving her absolutely wild, her guttural moans filling the room, her eyes drifting shut while her body began to quiver in anticipation of what was to come. Seeing the pure pleasure that now littered his gorgeous Princess' face, and knowing that she was dangerously close to finding her release, he suddenly stopped everything that he was doing._

 _With an unsatisfied grunt, Xena opened her eyes and looked up_ _just to see_ _him staring down at_ _her_ _with the most scandalous grin on his face. The manipulative bastard was trying to get her to submit to him, denying her what she wanted because she denied him. Ooohhh, he just thought he was so clever, she was literally about a couple of thrusts away from reaching her climax and he stopped, keeping his fingers deliciously buried within her only to torment her with what she could have been feeling if she had only kissed him. And then… ooh, then the sneaky bastard slowly started to pull out of her and just when he had almost left her pussy completely empty, he thrust his fingers back within her, making a very wanton moan fall from her desirable lips that he was now just mere inches away from. His hot breath caressing the surface as their mouths lustfully wanted to connect._

" _Ares…" she began, but her words fell short when the War God once again started to torturously ram his fingers into her._

" _Hhmm?"_

" _Ki…Kis…"_ _she tried to speak, but she_ _couldn't even form a sentence, her mind was completely intoxicated with his incredibly sensual movements and she only moaned out sexier with each stroke._

" _My pleasure."_

 _No sooner had the words softly caressed her lips that he was taking possession of her mouth, his tongue passionately seeking entrance within, deepening the kiss while they fervently devoured the other. He captured every single one of her moans and as he moved to increase his penetration within her, skillfully hitting all the right spots to make her blood flow maddeningly within her_ _and_ _as her desire mounted, his Princess savagely bit his bottom lip while her orgasm coursed through her body with a searing intensity that left her well satisfied._

 _They didn't move from their position_ _once everything was over,_ _Ares preferring to feel her hot with passion body close to his_ _a few moments longer_ _and since he liked the feeling of himself between her legs, he wasn't in any rush to move from there. Instead, he just gently kissed against her throat while her hands lightly ran up and down his back._

" _You know…"_ _he murmured, teasingly kissing_ _his way to her shoulder, softly nipping at her skin_ _while he_ _slowly worked his way back to her neck, "… Zahara wanted to ask you something for a while now but didn't know how to go about it."_

" _She did, about what?"_

 _The Warrior Princess'_ _thoughts went_ _straight to her daughter, she needed something and was too scared to ask her herself, why would she be scared?_

" _Well, she wanted me to ask you about the possibility of her having a little brother." he sweetly whispered out against her ear, nibbling on it the following second._

" _Did she now…?" Xena moved her hands to Ares face and softly turned his head towards her own, "… and what would your thoughts be on the matter?" she asked while she tenderly ran her fingers along his cheek._

" _Me…? I'm easy, girl, boy… I'd be happy with either one." he stated, leaning closer to his Princess and capturing her lips in a tender kiss, "Though she does have her heart set on a boy. We will just have to practice a lot to tell her that we tried really hard to give her what she wanted."_

 _The next moment, Ares shifted his hips into her, grinding himself against her groin and causing a lustful moan to fall from her lips and then a bit of playful laughter to escape from her mouth. There wasn't anything that he liked more than the sound of her laughter, well, maybe there was one other thing that he enjoyed hearing from his sweet Princess. He reached up and smoothed back her silky raven tresses for a moment, she was so beautiful and he thanked every day whatever forces had a hand in delivering this gorgeous Goddess to him. He then closed the distance between them and captured her lips again in a gentle kiss._

" _So what do you say?" he asked between kisses, "Shall we uh… have a go at this… baby making process? I hear… it is quite enjoyable… for both parties involved." Ares seductively murmured out while he continued to passionately fuse his mouth with her own._

" _She might… not have… to wait as… long as she might… think for that… baby brother." Xena breathed out through his urgent kisses, a small smile forming on her face from her words._

" _And why is that?" he was too lost in their kisses to have picked up on his Princess' subtle hint._

 _Shaking her head slightly at his naivety- sometimes he had such a one track mind- Xena took a hold of Ares' hand and guided it down towards her belly and splayed his hand against her lower abdomen. At first, he just looked at her inquiringly, not really sure what she was doing but then he sensed it, his eyes widened in surprise for a moment and then a loving look formed within them while he felt their child. It was faint at first, but it was there nonetheless and it grew stronger as the tiny energy within his Princess reached out to Ares, recognizing him as its protector… its father… His eyes eagerly searched her_ _sapphire moons_ _for the answer he already knew but he needed to hear her say it._

" _Xena… are you…"_

" _Yes." she answered while she watched a wave of emotions play across Ares' face- surprise, disbelief and lastly… love shined clearly in his eyes._

 _The next thing she knew, Xena found herself in a very heated kiss with the War God. His hands ran along her body more delicately, softly feeling the contours of her form before he once again rested his hand against her stomach, feeling the small energy that was their child within._

" _This calls for a celebration." he stated and then he_ _filled_ _his Princess in one swift motion, causing her to gasp out as he sunk the full length of his cock within her._

 _Their moans and grunts quickly filled the room and for the next several hours, the two proud parents to be, moved as one while they celebrated the conception of their child._

As the images slowly started to fade from her mind, Xena was overcome with so much emotion while witnessing those scenes that her cheeks were drenched in tears. She had clearly felt the love that was pouring off of Ares and the moment he had found out that she was pregnant, that feeling seemed to have only doubled in its intensity. And their daughter, seeing the two of them together like that was something that she was not prepared to witness, and then there was their unborn child… When Ares had touched against her stomach she had also felt the tiny life that was growing inside of her.

Her hand consciously drifted down to her abdomen and she lightly touched against it, and for a moment she mourned the absence of a child that she would most likely never have. That future of the two of them was not what she had expected and to a certain extent, it saddened her to think that it would never come to pass.

"There is still a chance for all of that, Xena, it's not too late…" the Love Goddess quickly chimed in, seeing the sorrow that had come across her face, "… Ares has never stopped loving you and I know you are still in love with him."

"And we'll just have the perfect relationship, right?" she bit out condescendingly, pushing away the Goddess' hand when she tried to wipe the tears from her cheeks.

"Actually, a perfect relationship isn't perfect at all…" the Goddess rushed to answer. Since Xena didn't deny her previous statement, she took that as a step in the right direction, "… it consists of two people who never give up on each other despite any hurt or pain. Ares has never given up on you, even after everything the two of you have been through these past few years…"

At the Warrior Babe's evasive look, the Goddess moved to really make her words sink in, "… and despite the fact that you gave up on him."

The Love Goddess may not have been one for violence, but to Xena, those words felt like Aphrodite had just slapped her across the face. She knew exactly what she meant by that and her eyes snapped to the Goddess', angry that she had brought that up but the moment their eyes connected and saw the sympathy in them, the Warrior Princess suddenly felt ashamed. She knew that she had hurt Ares, she had felt this indescribable anguish that unexpectedly formed in her chest coming from their bond and her heart felt like someone was squeezing the life out of it and she thought that she was going to die from the feeling. It had been a horrible sensation, one that made her sick to her stomach from the unbearable suffering that was emanating from the War God and the pain had been so intense that it had left her in a catatonic state for a week until the feeling finally started to suppress.

After that, she hadn't seen or felt Ares for months, it was like he had just suddenly vanished off of the face of the earth and it was so strange to her since she had always felt his presence until the day he framed her for murder- the day when he had finally come back or at least they were in the same proximity again and he was as cool as ever, she thought that he had finally come to kill her but yet he shocked her when all he attempted to do was get her to come back to him.

In the meantime, the Love Goddess could feel the silent agony that Xena was having within herself. Her heart ached with how much they actually wanted to be together but yet were keeping themselves apart for reasons that Aphrodite just couldn't understand. What was it going to take for them to just stop fighting each other? She had been doing everything that she possibly could to get Ares to try and win her back but he had apparently took her meaning on how to go about that the wrong way and they were still stuck at the same cross road. There was only so much that she could do, the rest was up to them.

"Don't give up on him Xena, I know he has done some terrible things to you and I'm not making excuses for him, but there was a time when the two of you were inseparable. When you guys weren't fighting, you were making love and he was firmly attached to your hip at every available moment. There wasn't anything that Ares wouldn't do for you, all you had to do was ask and it was yours. You can't tell me that you forgot about all that, in fact I know you haven't. I know your heart's desire sweet pea, and it yearns for him now just as much as it did then, maybe even more."

Having said everything that she needed to say to attempt to open Xena's eyes to what was right in front of her, Aphrodite just gave her one last sympathetic look before leaving her alone. It was out of her hands and she could only hope that it had been enough to set them on the path back to each other before it was too late.


	4. My Princess, My Goddess, My Enyo

Chapter 4

It had been several hours since Aphrodite had left and the Warrior Princess was at war with herself. The images that the Goddess had shown her still played in her mind and she was still in shock after what she had seen. It was not what she thought it might have been and she didn't even know that Ares had even entertained such notions before. She would have thought that his version of a future with her would entail them ruling the world and bringing death and destruction throughout the land but yet the War God had in fact envisioned having a family with her instead.

She quickly tried to push the silly idea out of her head- it must have been just another scheme after all- still unable to believe that she was letting herself fall victim to it. It was just another way for Ares to manipulate her and somehow he even got Aphrodite to believe it also. But the image of their daughter was the one thing that she couldn't shake, the two of them together, the way she had Ares wrapped around her finger. The big bad God of War telling a bedtime story and the affectionate way he held and looked at her…She was obviously very important to him and Xena didn't see anything else but love in the War God's eyes for that little girl.

Things between them had spiraled so out of control and neither one of them were good at expressing their feelings, especially not to each other. But the Love Goddess was right, it wasn't all bad between them and she couldn't deny that. Littered throughout their intricate relationship, there were some good moments as well- and they did outweigh the bad ones. She might have chosen to lock them away but she had never forgot them and back then he was everything to her- plus, there was the softest voice inside her head saying that he still was. The Warrior Princess had been just as possessive of him as he had been of her and that nasty little green eyed monster always reared its ugly head when he showed the faintest interest in another woman even though she had told herself countless times that showing any type of emotion in regards to something like that would only succeed in letting the War God have a power over her and she couldn't give him that type of power.

She still remembered it clearly though and sometimes she thought that he only did it to make her jealous and to get some sort of reaction out of her. But she could play his little game too and she had her own methods of getting under the War Gods skin and get a rise out of him.

 _For the past several hours, being stuck at some stupid festival that required his Chosen's presence, part of that special duty she was supposed to perform, the Warrior Princess had to endure the incessant ramblings of some wanna be warrior that was_ _stubbornly_ _regaling her patron God with her tales. It wasn't so much that she had to sit there and listen to them, it was the fact that Ares seemed to be fairly engrossed in them. I mean come on, he practically forced her to come to this damn party and now he was ignoring her because some dim witted bimbo thought she was something special._

 _Xena gave the girl a judgmental once over, her barely repressed rage bubbling a little more when that little bitch placed her hand on Ares' knee. What made her fury grow more was that the War God didn't even think to remove it, his own hand that had been casually caressing her thigh, therefore letting everyone in the room know that she was his and she was completely off limits, he had removed it and actually placed it over that_ _scant's_ _hand. She told herself that she wasn't going to let it bother her, why should it? She didn't care what he did and she wasn't going to let him get a reaction out of her._

 _But that unprecedented ache that formed within her chest when Ares started to lightly move his fingers up the girls arm, teasingly tracing her skin, Xena wanted to tear the girls head from her body. The bastard, how dare he drag her to some pointless party just to have her sit here and watch some whore flirt with him. Never did she want to feel someone's blood on her hands as much as she wanted to feel that scantily clad_ _warrior's._

" _I hear your Chosen is very beautiful." the blonde warrior giggled out, making Xena roll her eyes in disgust._

" _Stunning is more like it!" Ares stated, turning towards his Princess for a moment and giving her a lustful once over, as if finally realizing that he had brought her along with him before turning back to the desperate woman in front of him._

" _She is quite lovely, you're lucky to have her."_

 _Xena had picked up on the slight sarcasm that the girl had in her words, that little bitch was patronizing her. She was so lucky that she didn't have her sword, she would have loved nothing more than to slice her in two but then again there was more than one way to skin a cat._

" _You have no idea…" the War God whispered out softly, his gaze returning to his precious Chosen once more, this time leaning closer to her and placing a kiss against her cheek._

 _He immediately felt the tension in her body the moment his lips had touched her skin. She was agitated and the hard to miss fury that was shining on the surface of her sapphire eyes told him everything that he needed to know on what had put his Princess in such a state. She was jealous of the attention he was showing to the girl. She was so damn sexy when she was envious and the War God just wanted to fuck her right there. All that rage that was flowing from her, by the Fates themselves it was making his blood run maddeningly fast through his veins. He couldn't wait until they were alone but he didn't know if he could wait that long and he was barely keeping himself from just giving the whole room a show and tearing that provocative dress off of her enticingly sexy form and fuck her brains out._

 _What was he thinking when he had put that on her, he wasn't that's what, only the fantasy of how he was going to slowly peel her out of it later was what was running through his mind earlier. The moment they got here the entire male population were all over her, undressing her with their eyes and he had to make sure that she_ _remained by his side_ _the whole time, wrapping a possessive arm around her waist and sending out harsh glares to those whose gaze had lingered for far too long on what was his property. He could see that she wasn't really enjoying herself but he was going to make it up to her later, although now he was quite curious of what she might do to this warrior woman._

 _He was the God of War, he had to mingle a little and if his Princess had actually been listening to what the girl was saying, instead of letting that pesky emotion called_ _jealousy_ _cloud her mind, then she would have realized that the woman in question was in fact the daughter of an Amazon Queen whose tribe was actually standing in their way and the girl was very forth coming with certain details of their battlements, information that they needed in order to help them eliminate the problem. All you had to do was know how to squeeze the information out of her, she was coming on a bit strong, practically throwing herself at him and he didn't miss for a second the mocking tone in which she had addressed his Chosen and the only reason that she was still breathing was because she had specifics that his naive Princess needed but was too busy brooding to realize._

 _She might be pissed at him now but she was going to thank him later. Ares looked up into her eyes, seeing the disdain she had for him in them and he knew that she had probably killed him at least a thousand different ways already and he couldn't help the smirk that began to form on his face. He loved it when she would get jealous, she might deny it all the time but he knew that she desired his attention on her and her alone and she didn't like it when he lingered elsewhere._

" _We also have our monthly ritual where we hunt the sacred boar in our lands and once we kill_ _it_ _we paint our bodies with his blood and then dance naked under the sister moon all night- . which is tomorrow if you want to be our honored guest during the ceremony?" the blonde eagerly offered up, gently running her hand along Ares' shoulder, seeing that she was losing the_ _God's_ _attention to that wretched woman he called his Chosen._

 _She should have been grateful to have been with the God of War but yet she was sitting there beside him looking less than thrilled to be there and the warrior would love nothing more than to be able to take her place. She would certainly appreciate a God like him more than his current Chosen was doing._

 _With her words having the desired effect, Ares had turned his focus back to the blonde and was now playfully laughing to her ridiculous tale. Xena just wanted to puke and she just couldn't believe that manipulative bastard was making her sit through this. Watching as the warrior now ran her hand teasingly down his chest and the Warrior Princess' rage only seemed to rise more with the action and that Ares was allowing it. She was going to kill him for bringing her here and when she was done with him she was going to kill him again._

 _While Xena's envious eyes seemed to form deeper with hatred, her thoughts on how she was going to torture to death that blonde bimbo came to an abrupt halt when someone had dared to touch her shoulder. She looked to her right to find a rather handsome looking soldier sitting down beside her._

" _You don't seem to be enjoying yourself over here." the man stated, casting a futile glance to the God and woman who seemed to be enthralled with each other just a few inches away._

" _What makes you say that?"_

" _Well, you're sitting here, a gorgeous creature of a woman…" he bluntly said, letting his eyes roam over her body for a moment with a hungry look in his gaze, "… while the one who accompanied you, ignores you."_

 _Xena just rolled her eyes at the soldiers' keen observation, scuffing lightly at his pitiful attempt to flirt with her._

" _A woman like you shouldn't be ignored, you should be treasured and if he's too blind to see it…" he gestured in Ares' direction for a moment, then letting his hand rest against her knee, "… someone else shouldn't be denied the chance to do just that."_

" _And_ _let me guess, that someone should be you, right?" she asked, removing his hand from her leg but, to her surprise, he quickly took her hand in his and brought it up to his mouth and placed a kiss against it._

" _If I had the pleasure of sharing your company then you wouldn't be unsatisfied and you certainly wouldn't be overlooked. I would make it my mission to ensure that you knew that you were cherished." he told her, brushing her hair back from her face and then standing, with her hand still in his, ready to offer her a more pleasing end to this night._

 _The Warrior Princess was having a small battle within herself, she knew that she shouldn't but casting a small look in Ares' direction and seeing that he was well entertained with the blonde, not even noticing that someone was actually making advances towards her, she pushed the thought of why she shouldn't do it out of her head. After all, Ares wasn't the only one who was allowed to have fun and she was going to do just that and she allowed the soldier to lead her away from the War Gods side._

 _Within the matter of an instant of the Warrior Princess leaving him, all of a sudden feeling like Xena's presence was just too far away for his liking, Ares instinctively reached out next to him to pull his Princess closer to himself but all he ended up doing was swiping at the empty air where she should have been. He immediately looked over, seeing that Xena was no longer there next to him and he quickly let his eyes scan the area. Now where could she have gone- he thought to himself. He didn't find her right away though and_ _that only_ _started_ _to get him_ _irritated while his_ _worried_ _eyes continued to scan the crowded room for her._

 _After a few more tense moments of not having visual of his Chosen, Ares soon spotted her sitting in a rather dark, secluded corner with some man who was making himself right at home next to her. The rage within him instantly spiked while he watched that insignificant mortal gently brush his sweet Princess' raven tresses away from her face and then whisper_ _something_ _in her ear, making a small smile form on her face. This guy must have had a death wish because the moment his hand had landed on Xena's leg a very primal growl made its way out of the War Gods throat. His fists clenched tight while that said hand started to make its way up her thigh, slowly lifting the material of her dress and what made his_ _anger build_ _even more was that Xena was actually letting that bastard touch her._

 _The blonde warrior, seeing that she was losing him again, tried to bring Ares' attention back to her but she made the mistake of touching him. Not knowing that the War God was now a raging inferno that was ready to explode as he watched the soldier_ _now kissing_ _against Xena's neck_ _while he_ _slowly began to part her legs-_ _moving_ _his hand further under her skirt. She didn't know what she had just walked in to and before she could react, Ares had viciously backhanded her across the face and the force of the impact caused her to fall to the floor a few feet away from him._

" _Just relax…"_ _the soldier_ _whispered softly against her ear, hiking her skirt up a little more to get to what he wanted. "… I promise, you are going to enjoy this."_

 _Xena was trying to enjoy it actually, to push the thoughts from her head and just let her body take over and salvage what was left of this night. But it was not his touch that she wanted to feel and she chastised herself for letting Ares ruin this for her. Why should he have all the fun anyway_ _, so once again she fought_ _to push_ _him_ _from her mind and lose herself in the moment. She tilted her head to the side a little to give him better access and while his palm crept its way up her inner thigh, the Warrior Princess shifted her legs further apart, giving him the ability to touch her freely and make her forget the nauseating scene she had to witness throughout half the night. Accepting her invitation, the man finally reached his destination and started to softly shift her undergarment out of the way so he could show her what it was like to be pleasured by a man who appreciated what he had._

" _If you want to keep that hand then I suggest you remove it from my Chosen before I tear it from your body." Ares growled out menacingly, his eyes flaring with rage at the sight that he had before him._

 _Startled by the sudden angry voice that disrupted them, and not really hearing what was said, the soldier looked up to see the man that had been ignoring this lovely woman for half the night. So now he wanted her back when someone else had_ _finally_ _showed interest?_ _That was a bit too late as he saw it though, and figuring t_ _hat the girl didn't really want him, since she had chosen to go with him,_ _he decided that_ _he wasn't about to lose her to this guy._

" _Look…" he idiotically started, not actually knowing who he was talking to and whose skirt he had his hand under "… clearly your interests were elsewhere tonight and this beautiful woman deserves to have her every nerve pleasured by someone who actually wants her moaning out beneath him and I do plan on making her scream."_

 _Seeing the fuming rage that began to form behind Ares' eyes, the Warrior Princess knew that this man had just signed his death warrant. But she wasn't going to let the War God take her fun away when he had been happily amusing that slut._

" _Now Are…" Xena began but was soon silenced._

" _Don't fret sweet cheeks, just keep that pretty mouth of yours closed…" he told her, lightly patting her on the cheek as if he were reassuring some child, resting his hand on her thigh again before he passionately captured her lips with his own, "… this won't take long at all."_

 _Xena swiftly wiped the remnants of the sloppy kiss off of her mouth, her own temper flaring a little at the man's brazen attitude. Did he now think that he owned her and that she was just some common woman who rolled over and played nice just because someone told her to? Well, he was certainly in for the shock of his pathetic little life and judging by the way that Ares was glaring daggers at him, it wasn't going to be a very long one,_ _indeed._ _She then reached for his hand, savagely crushing it within her own as she removed it from her leg._

" _You're right…" she wickedly began, a devilish grin now lightening up her visage, "… it won't, will it Ares?"_

 _As soon as the name fell from her lips, the man's face instantly paled at the implication of it._

" _Ares…?" he nervously mumbled out, "… as in the…?"_

" _God of War?" Xena finished for him, taking pleasure in seeing the fear that began to form behind this pitiful man's eyes "The one and only."_

 _The man began to panic, the comprehension of what his words had put him in, were now dawning on him. He had practically told the War God to scamper off and he only knew of one woman of whom the Olympian traveled with constantly. But then realization dawned on him, he was about to fuck the God of War's Chosen and he couldn't help the satisfied smirk that started to form on his face at the thought. He was seconds away from ramming his fingers within the most forbidden fruit that walked the earth and he brought his hand up to his face for a moment, smelling the faint scent of her pussy against his fingers before he had the chance to really coat them with her juices._

 _Meanwhile, the War God did not miss the disgusting way in which the man was savoring his Princess' essence. This piece of shit really wanted to die and he had no problem in sending him with a one way ticket straight to Charon's boat. The hungry way in which he was now looking at his Chosen, essentially picturing himself fucking her brains out made Ares' blood boil and just the thought that Xena had actually let this scum touch her in a way that no one but himself was ever supposed to do made his fury rise even more and before anyone knew it, the War God had soon turned the insignificant man to dust._

 _The Warrior Princess and the God of War just eyed each other menacingly, both of them having already_ _virtually_ _killed each other at least several times. A few moments later, Ares_ _took a seat down_ _next to his Princess but she had other ideas and Xena immediately tried to get up from the divan, she was tired of this damn party and she just wanted to leave._

" _Where do you think you're going?" Ares hissed out and halted her attempt at leaving, pinning her back down against the settee and hiking one of her legs over his own and holding it firmly in place while his other hand held her by the waist to keep her put._

 _His answer came with a slap across the face and then Xena pushed against his chest to get herself free from him but his grip only tightened with her every movement. Fighting against his hold and delivering several more slaps across the face, not because she thought that it was actually going to be effective but just because it made her feel better, Xena eventually gave up on trying to get herself out of his hold. She knew the War God wasn't going to let her go anywhere until he was done with her and she huffed out an annoyed breath and then just turned her head away from him. She might not be able to escape him at the moment but she didn't have to look at him._

" _What happened, did the night's entertainment start to get a bit dull for you?" she spat out, trying to sound as unaffected by his earlier actions as possible._

" _The evening took a rather unexpected turn when my Chosen decided to leave my side and have some thug fondle her."_

" _I'm surprised you even noticed, it certainly seemed like your attention was directed elsewhere tonight so my presence would have hardly been missed."_

" _I always notice when you're not beside me." he whispered lowly against her ear, the tone of his voice making her shiver a little and he reached up and softly brushed her hair off of her face and Xena swiftly pulled her head away from him._

" _Did you even stop to think what that girl really had to offer?" Ares asked, lightly letting his fingers glide down her neck towards her chest where his Princess' breasts were now rising and falling a little more rapidly with his slow descent._

" _You mean besides the fact that she wanted you to fuck her so badly?" she acidly replied, turning her head towards Ares and casting him a harsh glare._

" _Yes, besides that."_

 _The Warrior Princess just narrowed her eyes at him and Ares once again brought his hand up and lightly ran his fingers down her cheek._ _He had never seen_ _anyone more beautiful angry then his Chosen and that little jealous streak that she would get only_ _made_ _her even sexier. There was no doubt in his mind about it- make up sex with her later was something that he wasn't going to be forgetting anytime soon._

" _She, if you would have actually taken the time to_ _listen,_ _is the daughter of the Amazon Queen whose tribe is standing in your way." he informed her, seeing the dots connecting in her mind while his words registered with her._

" _Is she now?" Xena's eyes sparkled a little more at the awareness of what that meant, the girl had information that she could use in getting that pesky tribe out of the way, or she could certainly ransom her back, piece by piece anyway- she still wanted to chop her to bits._

" _She was quite willing to give up some substantial amount of information of the inner workings of their battlements." he mischievously stated, leaving out crucial details on just what those were, "I might tell you about it later though, if you behave yourself."_

" _Why wait till later?_ _Just_ _tell me now." Xena eagerly_ _suggested,_ _wanting to know what it was that she could use to squash that little Amazon tribe._

" _That would take my focus away from you and since you wanted my attention, now you have every last bit of it."_

" _I don't need or want your attention." she bitterly informed Ares, swatting his hand away when he started to slowly run it down her chest to her breasts._

" _Oh, but you do my sweet, otherwise you wouldn't have put yourself in such a compromising position in order to try and make me jealous."_

" _Not everything I do revolves around you and your ego, Ares."_

" _So you're saying you wanted that man to touch you?" he asked, lightly running his hand along her thigh and slowly slipping it underneath her skirt and teasingly making his way higher._

" _What if I did?" she questioned a bit breathless at feeling his caress, "Maybe I wanted someone else who could actually make me scream." she bluntly stated, raising a challenging eyebrow to the War God to see if he might just be the one who could deliver with such demands._

" _Well let's see what I have to work with." he murmured against her ear and then he was running his fingers along her sex, feeling her slight arousal from his minor ministrations, "Oh, Princess, you can do so much better than that."_

 _He then started to slowly rub against her clit, making sure to quicken his tempo the moment he heard her sharp intake of breath from his movements. Each vigorous stroke was causing his sweet Princess to whimper out lowly and there was nothing that he liked to watch more than seeing Xena respond to his touch. Within the matter of just a few short seconds, Ares had his lovely Princess moaning out a little more erotically while her pussy began to ooze more with her honey nectar and after a few more strokes, he rammed his fingers within her and started to move them with one goal in mind, and that was to make her scream._

 _Her breathing began to come out more labored, her hands latching onto his arms, digging her nails into his skin when he increased his pace even more_ _, and though the Warrior Princess_ _was trying to keep her reactions down to a minimum- the not so empty room that they occupied didn't need to know about what it was that they were doing_ _\- her any_ _thoughts of controlling_ _herself were soon wiped from her mind when Ares changed the angle of his penetrations a little and was now plunging into her in such a way that there was no holding back that guttural moan that fought its way free from her mouth._

" _Sshhh, don't want to draw attention, now do we?" as much as he wanted to hear her passionate cries of pleasure, that was something he didn't want anyone else to hear and he slowed down the force of his thrusts._

 _The War God was now moving unbearably slow within her, moving his fingers at a soft pace that was still causing her immeasurable amounts of pleasure but was allowing her the chance to muffle her moans a bit more. At this point, they were both incredibly turned on and they wanted nothing more than to ravenously devour the other. Xena locked eyes with Ares for a few seconds, giving him the naughtiest look and silently asking with her eyes for him to just stop teasing her_ _and move on to actually fucking her already._ _She wanted him so much at that moment that she didn't give a damn if he just mounted her right now and fucked her senseless_ _right there, in that_ _crowded room._

 _There wasn't a lot of convincing that she needed to do_ _either_ _, his Princess sexily biting her lower lip and then moaning out so wantonly when he_ _thrusted_ _his fingers into her a little harder was all the persuading that the War God needed. With one more deep plunge, Ares grabbed Xena by the waist and then hoisted her into his lap and tangled his hand in her hair and possessively took ownership of her lips, passionately invading her mouth with his tongue. It only took the Warrior Princess' soft moan into his mouth and the next moment they had left their spot on the divan and reappeared in his bedchambers locked together in the same passionate embrace._

 _Their clothes had disappeared_ _somewhere_ _during their little trip and Xena could feel the flesh of his cock pressing against her opening and she rubbed herself against it for a few torturous moments before sliding down over it. They both moaned out at the feeling and soon Xena started to_ _leisurely slide up_ _and down his engorged shaft before imbedding his cock within her and rocking her hips against him vigorously. Ares took a hold of her waist, pulling her closer and moving his outrageously sexy Princess with a little more force against him,_ _he caused_ _her swollen clit to rub against his pubic bone while she rode him. Her head fell back in ecstasy and Ares took the moment to take her erect nipple into his mouth and started to suck against it._

 _He could tell that she desperately wanted her release, her hips moving more franticly to get what she wanted but_ _he_ _had other plans though and he firmly tightened his hold on her waist and started to slow down her movements. She protested at first,_ _of course,_ _still trying to keep the fast pace they had going, she was so close and she urgently wanted it. But the War God didn't cave though and he continued to move his sweet Princess at a sluggish tempo, gently guiding her back and forth against his throbbing cock in a slow primal dance. Once it seemed that she was going to follow the pace he had set, Ares released his hold on her, one hand staying on her waist while the other made its way between their bodies and started to gradually manipulate her clit._

 _The pleasure that was now coursing through Xena's body had her moaning out so sexily that Ares didn't know how much self-control he had left. Their intense love making had them both yearning to reach their climax and after a bit more of slowly having his Princess ride him, the War God swiftly flipped them over and started to impale Xena passionately. Her harsh pants and moans as he thrust harder and harder into her only made his cock swell more and he rammed himself within her until he had finally accomplished his goal and his gorgeous Princess screamed out with her release while his shaft filled her again and again._

 _After a few more rounds they laid nestled together, the Warrior Princess_ _was_ _safely encased in the War_ _God's_ _arms and she just laid there quietly and listened to the sound of his heart against her ear while he softly ran his fingers through her hair. The next set of words that_ _she then_ _heard stunned her, she was certain that Ares must have thought that she had fallen asleep._

" _I always know when you're not there Xena…" he whispered out to her slumbering form, pulling her a little closer to himself, "… you're my Princess, my Goddess… my Enyo…" he placed a tender kiss against the top of her head with his last words, "… You mean more to me than life itself and when you're not there, it's as if a piece of me is missing… You belong by my side…_ _ **always**_ _."_

 _Xena didn't know how to react to that and she was positive that if she had responded to it than Ares would have been mortified. It was something that he had confessed because he thought that she was sleeping and he was safe from the scrutiny of what his words might have brought from her. She knew what the implication behind those words had meant, he saw her as his equal. It would have been the perfect opportunity to turn the tables more in her favor with that little admission but they had been spoken with such honesty that she didn't have it in her heart to ridicule him for his confession. So instead of saying anything at all, the Warrior Princess just snuggled closer to him and she_ _just tightened_ _her hold on him slightly_ _while in return_ _he placed another adoring kiss into her hair._


	5. The Only Logical Explanation

Chapter 5

After managing to find herself something to eat, Xena was still in fact stuck in the War Gods quarters on Olympus. Considering that Ares had yet to come back, she had no way to get out of the home of the Gods. Still, she figured it wouldn't really hurt to try and find herself a way back to the mortal plane and thus she had ventured out of his quarters but things proved to be extremely confusing. If up till then she had thought that some of his temples were a maze then Olympus had won the grand prize of being the largest labyrinth ever, so she gave up on it and ended up right back in his quarters again. She even called out to Aphrodite at one point but the Goddess did not show up and Xena only sighed out deeply to herself at the prospect.

What if Ares had forgotten about her and she was stuck there until he decided that he wanted to come back for whatever reason? The annoying logic in her head was being its usual pesky self and was telling her to just call out to the War God but she wasn't going to do that. That would mean that she needed his help and she couldn't afford what his help would cost even though she knew that when he did eventually show that she would need his help anyway if she wanted to get down but she was only going to cross that bridge when it presented itself.

So in the confines of her complete solitude, the Warrior Princess did what any self-respecting person would do when left alone for long periods of time in someone else's place- she went through all of the War Gods things. It served him right anyway, he should have known better than to leave her alone in there for this long. His temples were one thing, they usually held the same stuff in them but just slightly different, but this, this was his place on Olympus and she had never been here before and the curiosity of possibly finding something that she could hold over his head later had worked its way into her devious mind and she couldn't resist to see what dark skeletons he was hiding in his closet.

At first, her snooping led her to what one would expect for a God of War to own- which in brief meant hundreds of different weapons plaguing the walls, plus a vast armory of things that she didn't even know what they were. But a few strange weapons wasn't exactly what she was looking for…. she needed to find some real dirt if she were ever going to be able to knock him down a few pegs when he came to annoy her. So Xena continued on her little escapade and finding nothing really of interest and she ended up back in his bedchamber and decided to search that room for something.

Soon enough, the Warrior Princess spotted a door off to the side that she hadn't really taken notice of earlier and she made her way over to it to see what dark secrets were held behind it. But you know what they say….one should really be careful about what it is that they are asking for or seeking to find- which proved to be quite true in Xena's case, because, as she pushed the door open and stepped inside, she stopped dead in her tracks at what she had before her. Her eyes widened in complete surprise of what the room held inside of it and she scanned the area over and over again, not really believing what she was seeing. Her eyes must have been playing tricks on her and she shook her head a little to see if she could disperse her mind of the nonsense that it was making her see.

But looking back up into the room, the images did not change and she still found herself looking, well, at herself frankly. The room was besieged with images of herself everywhere that the eye could see. Statues made in her likeness were placed strategically throughout the room, tapestries and different paintings, depicting diverse times throughout her life were hanging all over the place and right in the middle of it all was a statue of the two of them together. But what really got to the Warrior Princess with that sculpture was that it was illustrating a time in her life when they had never been closer. To anyone else it would have only looked like a man and a woman together but to Xena it meant so much more and her eyes ran fondly over the figure of the two of them.

At a closer inspection, the two figures were standing very close together. The War God's arm was wrapped around her waist, holding her flush up against him and his right hand was delicately touching against her cheek. Her own hands were softly pressed against his chest, one holding an unmistakable rose while the other was softly spread over his heart and the two lovers were frozen in time about to embrace in a kiss.

The moment which Ares had chosen to capture was something that Xena fought with the most, struggling to keep it buried within her mind and heart whenever her thoughts would linger to him. The events leading up to that particular moment belong to a rare ordinary day for the two of them and now that she really thought about it, it still surprised her that she had never realized that the War God had actually taken her on a date.

He had arrived at her campsite one morning and was very adamant about leaving the days' plans for another time and after a heated fight or two of how that was going to set her army behind schedule, she had eventually given in to his demands. Once she had given her orders to her generals, Ares had encased her in his arms and for the rest of the day he had taken her to several beautiful breath taking places that the Warrior Princess couldn't have even imagined existed.

They had spent the day in a playful banter with each other and as the day was slowly starting to fade away, he finally transported her to a beach that had hundreds of blue and red candles lit up around a small canopy bed that was lightly covered in rose petals. As he led his completely speech less Princess over to it, Ares had been watching her the whole time to try and gauge her reaction to it. He had never been so nervous before, her unusual silence was getting to him and he started to think that maybe she didn't like it after all and he scolded himself for being so stupid as to think that this was something that she might actually like. But when Xena looked up at him, her completely awestruck sapphire eyes conveyed that she truly liked it. He knew that his Princess deserved everything in the world and he only hoped that she would allow him to be the one to give it to her.

A small assortment of her favorite foods was seated on top of the bed and they made themselves comfortable on it and Xena made quick work of the delicacies that she had before her. They then engaged in light repartee, which consisted with the Warrior Princess mostly teasing him and the War God just staring fondly at the most gorgeous Goddess that he was lucky enough to have spending time with. Once she was done with her meal, they just sat there and watched the sun set, and at some point her hand had found its way into his and they were gently clasped around the others, resting against his leg.

Xena could still remember everything that happened that day, the things they did, and the words that were spoken… it still echoed in her mind as if she were reliving the moment.

" _It's beautiful isn't it?" Xena asked while she stared out at the setting sun._

 _But the War Gods eyes weren't focused on any solar orb, his gaze was fixed firmly on the one thing that he knew that he couldn't live without. The low light that was shining on her face only seemed to enhance more her unmatchable beauty and seeing her so care free the whole day had truly made the War God happy._

" _Yes, very beautiful… gorgeous if you ask me." he whispered out softly to her, reaching up and gently brushing back her hair for a moment._

 _Xena had caught the slight undertone in his voice and she turned to look at Ares to see him staring at her warmheartedly. The look in his eyes was actually making her a little nervous, she had seen him look at her that way before but_ _this time_ _there was something different in his eyes and she wasn't quite sure what it was. She fidgeted anxiously under his gaze, the genuine want and adoration that he had in them was making her nerves act up and she felt like she had just been kissed by her crush for the first time. His warm auburn eyes always made her feel self-conscious and when he looked at her with such appreciation, she never_ _really_ _understood what it was that he was seeing. Her hand squeezed his lightly, more out of uneasiness from the heat of his gaze and wanting to try and jolt him out of his revere._

 _Meanwhile, the War God just loved it when she would get uncomfortable, she really had no idea just how breath-taking she actually was. But sensing how anxious she was now becoming, and not wanting to ruin this magnificent day that they had spent together, Ares brought her hand up and placed a gentle kiss on the back of it and then stood up unexpectedly._

 _The Warrior Princess' eyes watched him with great interest, her mind wondering where he was going and then he turned around to her and offered her his hand._

" _May I have this dance?" he sweetly asked her, his own anxieties sky rocketing as he waited for her answer, fearing that she would only end up laughing and rejecting him with his silly antics- he felt so foolish doing all this - but if it could put a smile on her face then he would_ _gladly_ _endure it._

" _But there's no music." she swiftly replied. She just couldn't believe that he was serious-but he was, his eyes told her that he meant it._

" _Then we'll just have to improvise." he told her, and since she really didn't say no, he took a hold of her hand and pulled her up from the bed and softly wrapped his arms around her._

 _They softly glided with each other in a small circle, Ares tenderly held his Princess within his embrace and she gradually began to cuddle herself further into it with each slow turn. At first, Xena felt a little ridiculous dancing without any music to go along with it, but as the scent of his familiar fragrance surrounded her, she didn't_ _really care anymore_ _and she gently placed her head against the hollow of his neck. A few moments later, the Warrior Princess suddenly heard the sounds of a tune- Ares had started humming the verses of something that she had never heard before but it sounded so beautiful. His hold around her_ _soon_ _tightened and the lovely sounding tune that he continued to hum made his Princess nestle her head more snugly against him, sighing out softly…_ _She_ _felt complete in his arms._

" _I love you." he whispered softly against her ear, placing a tender kiss against her head before gently running his fingers through her raven tresses._

 _A bit shocked with his words, Xena pulled back from him slightly and questioningly searched his eyes for some type of trick. But she didn't see anything that would have told her that the War God was trying to manipulate her_ _\- and still,_ _she couldn't shake that he was playing with her feelings_ _. When it came to him, she was always unsure about everything_ _but before she could try and slam down that barrier that she had foolishly lifted, a stunning red rose had materialized in his hand. Xena stared at the flower for a moment, not really sure what he was hoping to accomplish by doing this and then she looked back up into his eyes and what she saw in them truly stunned her._

 _He was just as afraid as she was, perhaps even more since this was not something that he usually did. His auburn eyes held a bit of fear behind them with the thought that she could reject him and Xena could see that he was having a very hard time with this. She could feel the slight tension in his body while he waited for her reaction and her eyes drifted back to the rose. Did she love him, she was certain that she did, the things that she felt when he was with her she just didn't know how to explain_ _them otherwise_ _and the only logical explanation for feeling something so strongly for another was love. She reached up and gently touched against the flower and before taking it from his grasp, she looked back up into his eyes and watched as he nervously gulped at what she was going to do and then she softly took it from his hand._

 _She smelled it for a moment and a faint smile began to form on her face. Ares was completely relieved- she had accepted the rose and therefore him and he couldn't help the slight breath of relief that came out of his mouth, causing the both of them to laugh lightly at it. Next, he tightened his hold around her waist, bringing his precious Princess closer to him and his right hand gently cupped her face and softly tilted it up towards his more and kissed her. What started off as a warm kiss_ _gradually_ _started to become more passionate and as their mouths fused together more ardently, Ares swiftly hoisted Xena up his body, her legs immediately wrapping around his waist and within an instant they were tumbling back onto the canopy bed, franticly pulling at the others' clothes until there was nothing left between them._

 _They joined together, making love throughout the night and taking their time as their moans and soft cries filled the night air._

As the memory slowly faded, Xena just couldn't believe that Ares actually had all of these things. She figured that her earlier musings- that he might have forgotten about her was the furthest thing from the truth. This shrine basically that he had built… she just didn't know what to think. After everything that they had been through, he still kept her close to him. Trying to push the thoughts that were now invading her mind about what that meant exactly, Xena started to leave the room but then her eyes caught sight of something else, something that she thought was long gone.

There it was, that same rose, there was no mistaking it, and perfectly preserved after all those years. She made her way over to it and lifted the sphere that was protecting it, she touched against it, not really believing that he still had it. A lone tear had made its way down her cheek, Aphrodite had been right, he had never given up on her and he was still clinging to the hope of getting back what they once had. Xena didn't know if she could do that though, things were different now and they didn't want the same things anymore. She couldn't go back to the life she had when she was with him and the War God suddenly changing his ways didn't seem like an option either.


	6. Her Armor Against it All

**I hope you guys have enjoyed this little short story. Thank you to all who took the time to share your thoughts along the way. :))))) I truly enjoyed putting this one together and I only hope that it was as entertaining for all of you as it was for me. :))) So without further ado, here is the conclusion to this tale, with a bit of luck it might just be what everyone wanted it to be. :))))**

Chapter 6

After what felt like a millennia to him, Ares finally managed to get out of that blasted meeting with Zeus. Every second he spent there was only causing him to grow more and more tense- his Princess needed him and she was in a dangerous place. She didn't think that she deserved to live and if something happened to her while he was away he would have killed Zeus, and it didn't help that he had suddenly felt her small bits of emotions through their bond. He figured she was still blaming herself for everything that she had done and those sensations that he would sometimes get from her, some he really didn't know how to take. He had felt the pain and other times he wasn't sure how to describe it, it was like a strange sadness had suddenly come over her, as if she was mourning something but nobody had died, no one of importance anyway that would have caused that type of reaction from her.

He soon materialized in his bedchamber where he sensed his Princess still to be and found her sitting on the edge of the bed with her back to him. Her body had immediately tensed with his arrival and after a few seconds she began to relax again.

Quietly, Ares did a quick assess of his Princess, she still seemed sad, he could feel it coming from her but other than that, it seemed like she was past those whole suicidal thoughts she had the night before and her self-loathing was now gone. He let out a small breath in relief at the thought, her death wasn't something that he was ready to deal with, though he knew that was something that he was never going to be prepared for and something that he was going to prevent for as long as he could.

Not really knowing how to proceed now-the unhappiness that was coming from her was worrying him and he figured that she must have been missing that pesky little blonde. Just the thought of her made him want to skin her alive for having hurt his Xena, but he pushed the idea from his mind, that would not do him any good and it could only succeed in pushing his already too far away Princess even further from him.

"How are we feeling?" he awkwardly asked, even he knew how dumb that question sounded but he was trying to make small talk.

When he was met with nothing but silence, he wasn't too surprised though, it was not like she was going to give him a straight answer anyway even if she did say something. So it seemed like they were back to their usual roles, her ignoring and loathing him and he frowned at the thought. There was nothing that he could ever do now that would make her see him any differently and no matter how hard he tried, his efforts would just be in vain. But he would take what he could get, he couldn't live without her and if this was all they had left now then so be it, he would take their stolen moments.

After her days' eye opening experiences and after having found his closely held secrets, Xena just didn't know what to do. Her mind and her heart were once again in a fierce battle with each other, both having compelling arguments of why she should and shouldn't walk away. He had done some unforgivable things to her but yet she had done her equal share in hurting him in ways that she knew that no one else ever could. She was just so confused and as she stared down at the fragile rose in her hands, delicately holding it within her grasp she couldn't help but hear Aphrodite's words over and over again.

"… _You frighten him… He doesn't know how to handle you… He's still in love with you, Xena…"_

Then there was that vision, was that really so out of the question, could they really ever have something like that with each other, especially now or had things gotten so bad between them that there was no way to ever find out? It was an answer that she wasn't any closer to finding out and although the Love Goddess had said that he was, Xena wasn't entirely sure if that was true or not even though she had all these examples stating clearly otherwise.

Trying to get at the bottom of it all, the Warrior Princess let out a soft sigh- it was time to find out where things stood between them and where they went from here. In the end, he had been faithfully by her side throughout it all, the ups and the downs, the wrongs and the rights and no matter what she did, he still came back time and time again even when she had made it clear that there was never any going back.

"You kept it." she murmured out lowly, but she knew that he could still hear her.

He just looked at her a little confused, what was she talking about, what did he keep? He immediately did a small scan of the room to see if he could somehow get a tiny clue as to what she was talking about and prepare himself for whatever it was that was going to come next.

"I kept what?" he innocently asked, still trying to figure out what she meant.

In response, Xena lightly ran her fingers down the flower again and without actually turning around to look at him she held the rose out for him to see. A wave of emotions came over Ares when he caught sight of what she was holding, how did she even get that? His eyes quickly darted over to the slightly ajar door that the rose was supposed to be safely behind and then she turned around to look at him and he couldn't help the slight annoyance that was now filling his body. What angle was she trying to play by dangling that accursed rose in his face?

"That does not belong to you…" he growled out, "… give it back!" he couldn't help his anger but seeing her with that rose again only reminded him of how much of a fool he had been when he had senselessly given it to her.

"Actually it is mine, you gave it to me so why do **you** have it?"

The War God only glowered in response, he didn't need to explain himself to her and how dare she still try to lame claim to it after all those years?! It wasn't like she actually wanted it anyway, she had carelessly tossed it away one day and everything they had ever shared along with it because of that idiotic brother of his and she had no right to even be touching it now.

"Give it back!" he snarled out again, threateningly taking a few steps towards her.

"Or what?" she tested, raising a challenging eyebrow to him, seeing how visibly agitated he was and she knew that this was something he never intended for her to know about, "Why do you have this Ares?"

"That is none of your business!"

"You made it my business when you created that room."

As soon as the words left her mouth, the rose suddenly disappeared from her hand and there was a loud bang, followed by a distinct locking sound. Xena shifted her eyes to the door for a moment and then focused back on Ares, she had hit a tender area for him and she knew it.

"Out of sight, out of mind." Ares nonchalantly spoke, his anger seeming to dissipate also as if nothing of importance had just happened.

"Locking things away won't make you forget about them."

"Really?!" he scornfully growled out, "I don't know about that, you seem to be the expert on forgetting things."

He couldn't believe that she had just said that when she herself had chosen to do the exact same thing and push him out of her life, so why couldn't he do the same? He should have done it a long time ago but no, he had let himself get so enthralled with her that he let every little misdeed that she had ever done against him slide by because he was so blinded by that wretched feeling that had crept into him when he should have squashed it the moment it started to form.

Xena knew that she needed to tread lightly, he was trying to protect himself now and she had hit too closely to something that she was sure caused him some pain. But they had to go through this, it was the only way to know where they stood and to see if things between them were really dead in the water.

"As much as I'm loving this little trip down memory lane, and I truly am, but I'm sure you would like to get back to that little no talent irritating blonde who likes to follow you around." he sarcastically spat out.

"Why didn't you tell me?"

"Well, I myself thought it was quite obvious really, I mean a person following your every move….? Not something that even the Warrior Princess would be likely to miss, but apparently you could."

His detached attitude was only serving in pissing Xena off, he was trying to avoid facing the bigger picture but she would be damned if she wasn't going to force him do it.

"Zahara…" she softly murmured out.

Hearing that name fall from his Princess' lips had stunned the War God. That was something that he had never expected to hear coming from her and the name only made him think about what he would never have. That gorgeous little girl would never come to be, he was never going to have the chance to hold her in his arms or be able to feel the warmth of her embrace. All he had was that vision and for a second, his mind drifted back to the image of the two of them.

"How do you….? Dite!" he growled out with such malice and distaste that Xena had never heard him use before when referring to his sister. "I am going to skin her alive!"

"You will leave her alone, Ares!" she firmly stated, moving closer to the War God and grabbing a hold of his arm when it seemed that he was going to make good on that promise and visit the Love Goddess, "She didn't show me anything that I didn't have the right to know."

"She had no right showing you that!" he snarled, hastily shrugging Xena's hand off of his arm, as if her touch was burning him, "That had nothing to do with you."

"It had everything to do with me, with us! We have a daughter Ares, don't you think I deserved to know that?!" she harshly bit back.

"No, we don't have a daughter Xena… What you saw, that was a cruel joke that the Fates wicked sense of humor seemed to think was funny to send to me of where we might have been headed." the bitterness in his tone was hard to miss, "But reality can really open someone's eyes and that was all taken away."

"We define our own destinies Ares, you've told me that time and time again. So if anyone took that away from you it was yourself!" she spitefully stated and the next thing she knew she was being slammed against the wall.

"I'm going to let you in on a little secret here, Princess…" he whispered out on a deadly tone against her ear, "… some crucial information that you seem to be forgetting there once again…" he continued, tenderly running the back of his fingers down her cheek as he pulled back to look at her only to wrap his fingers around her neck a few seconds later "…. You see, after the Fates cursed me with that vision, I came back to you and do you know what I found…?" he looked deep into her fiery blue eyes, those same orbs that had haunted his dreams for far too long, "… You, fucking someone else!"

His words had stung deep within the Warrior Princess. The pain she saw flickering within Ares' eyes had caused an ache deep within her chest. She knew that she had hurt him with what she did but she couldn't tell exactly how deep that agony actually went.

The words spilling from his lips made him relive that moment all over again and his grip on her neck tightened. He could do it now, squeeze a little harder and just snap her neck and finally be done with her. But he made the mistake of continuing to stare into her eyes, and as his ragged breath continued to hit against her face, he fell more and more into them and the very next moment he was capturing her lips in a passionate, hungry kiss.

Caught off guard with his sudden assault, Xena soon found herself returning his kisses with an equal thirst of her own. Magic, madness, heaven, sin… it didn't matter, only the feel of his ferocious kisses that were driving her crazy like nothing else in this world could and she instinctively snaked her hand to the back of his head, pulling him closer to deepen it. She was tired of pretending that she didn't love him anymore while all she actually wanted was to feel him close to her again. Ares had tangled his hand in her raven tresses, shoving her back against the wall more brutally while he continued to feverishly attack her mouth with his own. Feeling his Princess respond the way she did was something that he wasn't really expecting, it was like she belonged to him again and he was more than pleased when she arched into him more, softly moaning into his mouth while her hands franticly started to roam over his chest.

"Gods, I've missed you." he whispered against her lips, taking possession of them again and then he bent down slightly and grabbed a hold of her thighs and lifted her up his body, her legs wrapping around his middle.

He pinned her against the wall, descending towards her throat and passionately bathing it with his lips while he gradually worked his way towards her cleavage. To Ares, that pesky fabric was just in his way and, forgetting that he could have just simply made it disappear, he softly ran his hand up her body and then tore it open, exposing his lovely Princess to himself and he began to run his lips busily along her breasts, kissing and licking his way over them. The Warrior Princess softly sighed and moaned out in delight- she wanted this just as much as he did and she tightened her hold around him a little more. His touch was the only thing that she wanted to feel at that moment and she gently lifted his head and captured his mouth again in a soft kiss that immediately changed their frantic pace into a slower one.

Their lips tenderly melded together and in the next moment, Ares held his Princess firmly against himself and walked them over to the bed and they tumbled their way on to it. He slowly explored her once again, he finally had the joy of rediscovering her and he softly started to remove the rest of her tattered clothes, lightly peeling them from her body. He appreciatively ran his eyes along her perfect form, as if not really believing that this was actually happening and that he had his gorgeous Goddess within his bed again and he ran his hand along the contours of her body, feeling all of her curves. As much as he wanted to just possess her, to remind her of just who she belonged to, he wanted to worship her and make love to her like he had never done before.

But the Warrior Princess had other ideas of how this was going to go, she wanted to feel his cock within her again and, knowing that Ares could drag this out forever, pleasuring her out of her mind for hours all the while denying her the one thing she wanted the most, before the God could put his little plan in motion, Xena had shoved him onto his back and then climbed on top of him, sitting against his stomach. She stared down at him wickedly for a moment and then leaned down and captured his lips in a few short passionate kisses before quickly pulling away from him and started placing little sweet kisses against his jaw and slowly made her way towards his chest.

While she was busy teasing him with her kisses, Ares had slowly worked his hand down her back, gliding his palm down her ass cheek and then finding her moist center. He pushed his fingers into her, making her moan slightly from the contact and then removed them and started to vigorously rub against her clit. Her whimpers began to come out a bit more breathless and wanting to have better access, the War God pulled her further up his body, sinking his fingers within her again and working them in and out of her steadily. Xena gasped out with each plunge, losing herself over to it and thus falling right into the War God's plan- unconsciously offering him what he wanted to do from the beginning and as he began to hit against her g-spot, she felt the passion building in her more with each stroke. But then her mind started to work again, this was not how she wanted it to go and she let him pleasure her a little more, enjoying the sensation for a while longer before she removed his hand.

Ares just gave her a questioning look while he watched his Princess slowly work her way back down his body. She settled herself in his lap, making sure to feverishly rub her swollen clit against his enflamed member and then she reached down between them and took his shaft into her hand. She gradually began to work her hand up and down it, feeling his cock pulse more within her grasp and then she positioned herself over it and slowly slid down on it. Immediately his hands went to her hips, and Xena leisurely roamed hers over his chest and then started to slowly rock her hips against him. She sexily bit her bottom lip, moaning out lowly with each sensual movement against his lap, dragging her nails down his chest when she increased her pace a little.

Seeing his Princess so abandoned like that to the passion that they were creating with each other was the greatest thing Ares had seen in a very long time. His hands clenched tighter around her hips, moving her just a little faster against him. Without disrupting the rhythm, Ares rolled them over and continued to thrust himself within her. This new position allowed him to heighten his sweet Princess' pleasure even more, letting him fill her over and over again and her breaths came out more labored while he made love to her.

They continued their slow dance with each other, their pleasure climbing to immeasurable depths while they joined together endlessly until they finally came apart together. But that hunger was far from being sated, the years of being apart had made their desire for one another nearly unquenchable and they came together several more times while the hours dwindled by as they lost themselves more in the throes of passion.

Xxxxxxxx

Sometime during the early morning hour, the War God and his Princess laid nestled in each other's embrace, with Ares lightly running his fingers up and down her arm while Xena softly traced the contours of his muscular chest. Both secretly wanted to prologue this moment for as long as they could but they both knew that it was eventually going to come to an end.

"Ares?" she cautiously whispered out, her hand stopping its journey along his torso.

"Yes, my sweet."

"About the other night, when you first brought me here…" she softly began, not really knowing how to say it.

"Say no more, Princess…" he placed a tender kiss against the top of her head and pulled her closer to himself, "… there's nothing to forgive…"

Xena snuggled closer to him at his words and a small smile formed on her face. This felt so amazing after so long of being apart but where did they go from here, things were never going to be the same. What did this mean, she couldn't go back to her old life and she really didn't want a life without Ares in it but she couldn't see any other way around it but them constantly fighting against each other. There was no way to balance the two without them ending up hating each other.

"I'll have to disagree with you…" he tilted her face up to meet his, "… there is nothing that you could ever do that would make me hate you." he told her and then placed a warm kiss against her lips.

"I can't go back to my old life, Ares, and you suddenly playing nice doesn't seem like something that is going to happen anytime soon."

"A fight is a fight, no matter which side you are on, my dear." he reassured her, tenderly caressing her cheek, "Besides, this could be fun, watching you work, trying out to manipulate me… oohh yeah, I can just imagine the sex later."

"Ares!" she scolded, pushing against his chest to take this seriously, "There will be times that we will both hate each other, what if you get tired of it all, the games, the scheming… what if you get tired of…" her words fell short on that last one, her thoughts falling back into that old routine of giving him too much power over her but her mind was screaming _me!_

The War God just fondly looked at his precious Princess, smoothing back her hair and then, leaning forward, he placed a loving kiss against her forehead. When was she ever going to get it through that thick skull of hers, there was no one else that he ever wanted but her? What was it going to take to show her that he wanted her for eternity, he didn't just want the few years her mortal life would give him but he wanted forever with her. For her to be his Goddess and hopefully one day the mother of his children. But for right now, he was satisfied with what they had, and all he could do at the moment was try and ease her fears.

"I can't promise you a perfect relationship, but what I can promise you is that as long as we're trying, I'm staying."

He captured her lips in a passionate kiss, trying to show her just how much she meant to him and that he was willing to give this a shot if she was, and in response, she rested her head back against his chest, nestling her cheek comfortably on his warm skin. She was willing to try this out and maybe keep him in line a bit whenever he started causing too much trouble. Her thoughts drifted back to how they had gotten here, her fight with Gabrielle, the destruction she led throughout the years and that last battle with the Athenian army. She needed to make amends and she hoped that their friendship wasn't damaged in the process.

"Stop worrying so much…" he chastised her, placing another kiss against her head while encasing her snugly in his arms, "… everything is going to be fine, sweetheart. Even things with that irritating blonde."

"She does have a name you know." Xena softly chuckled out with his use of identifying her.

"That she does, I'm sure, but she hurt you and for the time being she is an irritating blonde."

The future might have been uncertain, not everything could be fixed and the things that had already been done couldn't be undone but there was a small flicker of hope that things weren't going to be as dark as her mind was trying to make them seem. Throughout her life she had to go through some trying moments that really tested her to see if she was able to make it out of it, if she had the strength to even try. But no matter how many times life had seemed like it was about to spiral into an endless abyss that she wasn't sure she could survive, time and time again there was that warm embrace that would catch her before she fell too far and got lost in it. The War God was there throughout it all, even when he had all the reasons in the world to turn his back on her and be done with her, he had still been there.

That's when the Warrior Princess started to wonder what would have happened if he wasn't there? She quickly shook the thought from her head, that was something that she really didn't want to know the answer to. He was hers and she was his and although their paths had diverged for a little while, they found their way back to each other.

Still, Xena began to wonder, since their relationship had rekindled, what the odds were of that vision happening and if it was still even possible.

Pushing it from her mind for the time being, she snuggled against Ares tightly though, draping her leg over him and inhaling deeply his scent before sighing out softly, content with where she was at the moment. In return, the War God placed another kiss against her head, indulging on having her sweet aroma filling his lungs once again and having his Princess back in his arms. He wasn't going to let her go this time without a fight and those who meant to harm her in any way were not going to like what they had to deal with in return.

….War was her armor against it all….


End file.
